im new as well, only about 6-7 weeks into detecting. I had a bounty hunter IV and upgraded to a garrett ace 350, but with my bounty hunter ive found about $40.00 in modern coins, about 5-600 coins total. Ive been fortunate to have access to our county fairgrounds because my brother is the treasurer for the fair. The hard ground is a pain in the butt but like they said above, we need rain. High heat and humidity doesnt help either. What machine are you using? where are u hunting? try to hunt open grass areas by parks, old trees are nice but u get the roots that go with it and that makes for not so fun digging. I know not everyone can afford to, but if ur using a low grade detector maybe upgrade? my ace was only 300 and i love it. it seperates out the junk pretty well and gives me good depth. 3 of my first 5 hunts with it yielded silver. Hang in there and Happy Hunting.....