Where theres Wheats theres Silver

[mastereagle22]

Where there's Wheats there's Silver

I have always heard this detecting addage but have hunted many spots that have produced Wheat pennies but no silver. So what is your experience?

 

[The.Boomer]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

Most of the places we hunt today have already been raped for silver back in the 70s. They took the silver and gold but left the copper. Lucky for us they also took 90% of the pop tops (AKA Bottle caps)which were the dominant species during that period. We just got the various pull tabs to contend with now but had they the technology to get past the Bottle caps we might be in a real jam now days. BTW along the same line if your finding Bottle Caps then yes there's a really good chance of finding both silver and gold.

 

[mastereagle22]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

Love your Avatar, also liked the movie!!!

Thanks

I can tell you that the areas that I have found REALLY old pull tabs I have found silver. You are probably right about the silver rapers leaving the copper....

 

[Michigan Badger]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

Good thread. Refreshingly different.

Like you I've hunted sites that didn't produce silver. But they were sites I only hunted on rare occasions.

Those I've really hit hard covering almost every inch produced some silver. It wasn't always in the form of coins but sometimes a ring(s) or pendent(s), etc.

I have an old site that was the location of an early baptist church and I hunt it whenever there's nothing better. I've hunted that site since about 2001. To date it has given up about 200 coins and about a dozen pieces of jewelry.

Approx. 125 of the coins were: modern clad, post Buff nickels, and memorials.

Of the other 75 about 45 were wheats + 15 Indians (including 2 1865's) + 5 Silver dimes (all but 1 was a Merc) + 3 Buffs + 2 Canada Large Cents + 5 silver quarters. As you can see I'm rounding it off but the numbers are pretty close. Only about 8 of these were over 5 inches deep.

I think it interesting that only 1 silver dime was a Rosie!

I should also point out that this site had been completely cleaned out by several veteran THers before I could hunt it. They told me the site wasn't worth hunting.

Years ago I learned that "hunted out" sites are some of the best.

So, the wheats out numbered the silver dimes about 9 to 1.

I think the percentage is lower because those who hunted this site before me probably got a lot of the wheats and most of the clad. None of them found any silver because silver is a challenge where the iron trash is heavy.

This example above has been pretty much what I've found over the past 40 years. Because most good sites in this state have been worked over many times.

 

[The.Boomer]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

Speaking of Iron. I'd like to hear your takes, That is Master Eagle and Michigan Badgers, on running in all metal. I do this but ignore the Iron signals, I also use a 9x12 coil on my ace 250, some people say use descrimination but I like my depth at 10 inches or less. But I also know I'm missing prospective targets because of masking and because I'm using a large coil I miss smaller stuff too.

 

[mastereagle22]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

I run my machine in Ferrous tone and the Iron discrim at -15 (-16 is all the way off). And I have become addicted to Ferrous tones.

The key that I have discovered is that I MUST go over the same ground several times from different directions. I find that by doing this, usually if I have a large iron target that is masking a good signal it will not mask it from all directions. So if you get that iffy signal stop and really work hard to figure out if it is worth digging. I also go over the ground with all three of my coils so that means multiple trips to the same spots.

The other night I was hunting and passed over an Ike Dollar at 2-3 inches with stock and 8 inch coil and because of a big chunk of iron I never got a hit. Switched over to the 12 Excelerator and got a good hard signal in the upper right hand range and dug up the Ike.

If you think you have good targets in amongst trash then you need to approach potential targets from multiple angles to help deal with trash and masking.

 

[Ant]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

I relate wheat backs to silver coins as I do old pull tabs and cork bottle caps. I run my machine in AM mode and ferrous tones too. The following is my set-up:

In trashy iron areas I use the Smart Screen (SC) and Digital Screen (DS). I hunt slowly, setting up in Iron Mask AM mode (All Metal), Ferrous Tones, Recovery at Fast, Gains at 5/6 (adjust up or down as needed, I lower the gains if I get false high pitch signals), Threshold just above silent (adjust as needed to compensate for ambient noise), Manual Sensitivity and noise cancle as needed.

When I get an iffy signal I use the Iron Mask button to toggle back to the stock Discrimination Mode (DM), then I can view the target and make a better judgment as to what it is (I stay in the Ferrous Tone mode while conducting this test).

 

[Michigan Badger]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

Speaking of Iron. I'd like to hear your takes, That is Master Eagle and Michigan Badgers, on running in all metal. I do this but ignore the Iron signals, I also use a 9x12 coil on my ace 250, some people say use descrimination but I like my depth at 10 inches or less. But I also know I'm missing prospective targets because of masking and because I'm using a large coil I miss smaller stuff too.

All-metal mode hunting started for me in the 60's because that's all we had back then. I dug almost everything. Many times I'd detect a large square nail only to pull up a nice coin or relic in the dirt

Then when discrimination got going, like everyone else I forgot about all-metal mode and my finds greatly dropped off and I got fatter.

One day while hunting an old park with my Wilson Neuman GBII, I decided to set it on all-metal and check the filled-in area around the outdoor restroom. I immediately got a soft tight signal. I dug a nice Indian cent and couldn't believe it! I figured that was lucky! I ended up digging about 8 Indian pennies within an area of about 4x6 feet. They ranged from 5-9 inches deep (and note that we're talking 1983 here!). Later I discovered there had been a gazebo located there back in the early 1900's.

Here's the big issue and almost nobody ever mentions this on any of the forums. Deep targets do not sound like shallower targets of the same type.
Air tests, shallow coin garden tests, and "tones" can be very misleading.

Here's an example that was shared with me from one of Team Nautilus's top hunters. This is not an exact quote:

When hunting CW sites with the Nautilus IIB we set the machine in discrimination mode with the discrimination knob almost to the off position. Once into a known hot area, we use the 15 inch coil and hunt slowly listening for the slightest "tick" signal. The 3-ringers and buttons come from 10+ inch depths and are often barely a crackled broken whisper "tick" or "click" sound (this is how team Nautilus wins every year!).

For today's THers I personally don't see a big need for true all-metal mode hunting. Today's discrimination machines are almost as deep in discrimination mode as they are in all-metal mode. Most people hunt yards and parks and really don't have the liberty to do a lot of digging to learn how to use all-metal mode. Those days are gone and all-metal mode hunting for coins is obsolete.

Here's a tip:

Depart from the idea that old coins will give a nice solid easy to hear positive signal. Usually this is not true. Run in discrimination mode with a low discrimination setting. Maybe just tune out tiny iron nails. Then listen for those subdued small tight signals. Raise the coil while swinging and see if the signal is lost when the coil is raised 2 inches or so. If it is, slowly turn up the discrimination until the signal is lost. Forget about ignoring broken signals because often they are deep coins. If you can still get a signal of any sort when the discrimination is past the iron range--dig it! Yes, even if your "tones" or "METER" says IRON.

Deep copper/brass/lead can sound a lot like iron. In fact, so can deep silver and especially gold.

Sorry to run on so long.

Extra added note:

Some people lately have been posting that finds are never deeper than say 7 inches. This is not true. Years ago people crowded together in parks with horses and buggies, etc. When it suddenly started to rain many made a dash for shelter. Soft muddy clay and heavy horse hooves, wagon wheels running over coins...you get the idea (deep coins). This is double true of CW sites

 

[The.Boomer]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

Thank you Master Eagle, I always like asking you people with a little more experience things like this cause inevitably you guys remind me of the basics that I have forgotten.

Timber Wolf your Solution is great as well except I'm only hunting with a Ace 250 nowdays occasionally I use a BH Mark IV but setting either detector up to hear fainter signals, it either registers a signal or not. I do like the idea of approaching the signal from various angles but I still worry I'm missing allot by passing up iron signals that are quite often nothing more than mineral deposits of some long ago evaporated piece of iron. But these can be substantial in size here in the north east, so masking is a real possibility.

 

[TerryC]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

It has been my experience that if you are finding wheats, you are finding silver. I might not be finding the silver everytime, but it is there. Others I know are doing better than I in that department. The difference is they, and their machine, are more "tuned in" than I. Those that can make their machine do the job, are getting better returns. As far as those that have never been able to find coins deeper than 7 inches, they are giving up too soon! Today's machine will beat the 70's machine EVERYTIME with the right operator. That is evident by the mere fact that treasure hunting is bigger and better than ever! TTC

 

[Ricardo_NY1]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

I certainly agree, where there are wheats, there is or has to be silver. It can be said that they got the silver and left the copper but..............

That type of chery picking certainly resulted in silver being left in the ground. Wheats sound/VDI like silver and silver can sometimes sound/VDI like wheats or less. That's why we still see silver in places where we find wheats.

I've maybe been to two places that were stuborn and didn't give up silver although they produced many wheats.

I also take into account the fact that wheats do still circulate, and unless you're finding them at correct depths and in the shape they're supposed to look like after several decades, I do not make a conclusion unless there is a good pattern. In other words, one or two wheats at the more shallow depths is not going to convince me. I have to see a few ugly ones and a depth that is correct for the area.

 

[tymcmurray]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

I hunt more Civil war Relics, but when I have hunted sites
that I find wheats, I usually find silver, even if only one.

 

[deepskyal]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

I'm a pretty firm believer that where there's wheat's, there's silver....and like my vote, somewhere around 80% or so of the time, I'll find that silver. I find silver dimes, rarely the quarters or halves. The dimes do sound almost exactly like the pennies.

My first outing with the new DFX, I would have sworn it was a silver dime magnet. I pulled 3 rosie's from an area about 10'x10', in a small park someone told me about and stated him and a buddie detected the heck out of.

If they cherry picked, they picked the obvious solid sounds of "big" silver...not the teeny dimes.

I did find quite a few modern pennies, dimes and quarters, but the rosie's suprised me, especially 3 of them and only about 3-4" in depth.

I'll hit a park several times if i find older coins. I might not find that silver the first or second time, but I'm one determined buggard. I know it's there and that's why I love this hobby...the challange of finding what others left behind.

You gotta remember, it's been 44 years since they minted the last silver coins. Give another 10 years (optimism) of circulation, that gives 34 years in the ground. A lot more years obviously for the older coins.

A few dozen detectorists spending a few hours here and there with older machines, weather and what-not....sure the findings are getting scarce...but I'm still finding them.

Al

 

[mastereagle22]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

Yeah I guess so. I just can't find an older silver quarter, any silver half or dollar for that matter. Guess most of those that got dropped (few I know) were mostly already found.

But I'm gonna keep trying!

 

[TerryC]

Re: Where there's Wheats there's Silver

Yeah I guess so. I just can't find an older silver quarter, any silver half or dollar for that matter. Guess most of those that got dropped (few I know) were mostly already found.

But I'm gonna keep trying!

Eagle,
It would be my opinion that the reason more dimes are found than halves and silver dollars is simple. It is two-fold. First, most change is lost by children. Most children, back then, didn't have big of money. Second, big money makes NOISE when you drop it! You know you've just dropped a half when it happens. If you pull some change out of your pocket, a dime/penney could easily fall to the ground without you knowing it. But not big money. It makes too much noise! I can't offer proof. Just my opinion. TTC