• Forum server maintanace tonight.
    Website will be off line for a short while.

    You may need to log out, log back in after we're back online.

Transmutation of metals - Clad to Silver!

LovestheShiny!

Forum Supporter
Joined
Jan 1, 2018
Messages
4,525
Location
Montana
Tumble cleaned my clad coins, ended up with about $180 in clad for 2017, picture shows part of that clad, then some after tumbling, and then what I exchanged it all for.

Not to show off, but more to offer encouragement. I have had a hard time finding silver coins in the limited amount of time I've detected this year, as our ground here in Montana was frozen until about a week ago. Have hit it fairly hard since then and have found probably $25 in clad, 20 or so wheat pennies back to 1918, and another 100+ copper pennies. I did get a couple of nice Sterling Silver rings, but no silver coins found here in Montana so far. The way I look at it... 4 clad quarters, 2 clad dimes, and a nickel currently equals a Silver Dime!

I know we all want to DIG those silver coins, but sometimes they are not there, and the clad can go a long way to keeping our great hobby of metal detecting rewarding and fun!
 

Attachments

  • clad1.jpg
    clad1.jpg
    93.7 KB · Views: 374
  • clad2.jpg
    clad2.jpg
    108.6 KB · Views: 323
  • clad3.jpg
    clad3.jpg
    108 KB · Views: 321
Last edited:
That's a nice pile of silver there! Congrats.

Oldest coin- 1946 wheatie.
 
I know your story all too well. Most of my finds are clad coins. I don't mind as I seem to get a lot of quarters and dimes. I have a good amount of clads for this year but have not had good hunting conditions so far. Snow, frozen ground and then mud. Just got a new 8" of snow too. Good luck and good hunting.
 
Very nice! I also take my clad and turn it into silver. I have 5 one ounce silver eagles I've bought with my clad so far.

I need to clean up my latest batch of coins because I may have enough for 2 more.

I like doing this because it makes it more fun to dig the clad since I know it is gonna be used for silver.
 
Clad to silver is a great idea! Our soil gets saturated so often the sink rate makes finding old stuff very difficult. I have yet to find one silver coin but over 40.00 in clad so far this year.
 
Thats the way you do it! Playing guitar on the M TeeVee! That aint workin" Thats the way to do it! Trans substantiatin' Clad coins for free"...Hoobahoobah!

That aint working! Thats the way you do it! Quick brooming clad and Coinstar chum?? That aint working! Thats the way you do it! maybe get a blister on your little finger, maybe get a blister on your thumb?

"We got to download constant Deus updates, dropping paper on the ML spree? Oh that aint working! Thats the way you do it! Cladding totters with a Compadreeee...Hoobahhoobahhoo..
\
Hoobahhoobahhoo!..That aint working! Thats the way you do it! Bussing pennies and popping clad?..that aint working! thats the way you do it! Beats punching clock or hunting cans!

We got to install a Big NELThunder, maybe get ourselves a straight stick shaft?? Maybe drop a hunnred dollars on some waders, maybe drop a a hunnred dollars on a scoop ?.....Hoobahhoobahoo!:laughing:
 
Thanks everyone for the comments!

Yep, I don't mind picking up shallow quarters, dimes and nickels 'cause it all adds up to more of that Shiny stuff! Did a hunt about 2 weeks ago back in the Seattle area in a suburban town, checked a few parking strips, and only found one Merc Dime, but a ton of clad, and you bet I dug it!
 
Last edited:
Thats the way you do it! Playing guitar on the M TeeVee! That aint workin" Thats the way to do it! Trans substantiatin' Clad coins for free"...Hoobahoobah!

That aint working! Thats the way you do it! Quick brooming clad and Coinstar chum?? That aint working! Thats the way you do it! maybe get a blister on your little finger, maybe get a blister on your thumb?

"We got to download constant Deus updates, dropping paper on the ML spree? Oh that aint working! Thats the way you do it! Cladding totters with a Compadreeee...Hoobahhoobahhoo..
\
Hoobahhoobahhoo!..That aint working! Thats the way you do it! Bussing pennies and popping clad?..that aint working! thats the way you do it! Beats punching clock or hunting cans!

We got to install a Big NELThunder, maybe get ourselves a straight stick shaft?? Maybe drop a hunnred dollars on some waders, maybe drop a a hunnred dollars on a scoop ?.....Hoobahhoobahoo!:laughing:


Bahahaha. When I was a kid I thought the song said... "Money is for nothing and CHECKS for free"
 
I totally agree with your plan to convert clad to silver. I've been doing it for a long time and have quite a nice accumulation of silver AND gold to show for it. There's nothing wrong with digging clad and my name (Diggin4clad) says it all.
 
Classic Mud....just Classic!!!

Thats the way you do it! Playing guitar on the M TeeVee! That aint workin" Thats the way to do it! Trans substantiatin' Clad coins for free"...Hoobahoobah!

That aint working! Thats the way you do it! Quick brooming clad and Coinstar chum?? That aint working! Thats the way you do it! maybe get a blister on your little finger, maybe get a blister on your thumb?

"We got to download constant Deus updates, dropping paper on the ML spree? Oh that aint working! Thats the way you do it! Cladding totters with a Compadreeee...Hoobahhoobahhoo..
\
Hoobahhoobahhoo!..That aint working! Thats the way you do it! Bussing pennies and popping clad?..that aint working! thats the way you do it! Beats punching clock or hunting cans!

We got to install a Big NELThunder, maybe get ourselves a straight stick shaft?? Maybe drop a hunnred dollars on some waders, maybe drop a a hunnred dollars on a scoop ?.....Hoobahhoobahoo!:laughing:
 
Yup your tumblr does a fantastic job! What kind is it!

For me, the clad I find gets tumbled and then deposited into a local bank that has a coin counting/sorting machine...love it when I can just have a literal "slush fund" to resource my other purchases for MD'ing.

Tumble cleaned my clad coins, ended up with about $180 in clad for 2017, picture shows part of that clad, then some after tumbling, and then what I exchanged it all for.

Not to show off, but more to offer encouragement. I have had a hard time finding silver coins in the limited amount of time I've detected this year, as our ground here in Montana was frozen until about a week ago. Have hit it fairly hard since then and have found probably $25 in clad, 20 or so wheat pennies back to 1918, and another 100+ copper pennies. I did get a couple of nice Sterling Silver rings, but no silver coins found here in Montana so far. The way I look at it... 4 clad quarters, 2 clad dimes, and a nickel currently equals a Silver Dime!

I know we all want to DIG those silver coins, but sometimes they are not there, and the clad can go a long way to keeping our great hobby of metal detecting rewarding and fun!
 
Thanks for the comments! For tumbling the clad I use... a couple handfuls of aquarium gravel, a couple of cups of water, a cup or so of vinegar, and a pinch of salt. For tumbling the copper pennies, I don't add salt but instead add a squirt of lemon juice. I let the tumbler run about 12 hours and the coins come out great. I don't tumble, or usually even dig up shallow Zincolns, as they are such cheap coins they get destroyed in the tumbler.

Be sure not to mix the pennies with the clad as they will turn the clad copper looking! I missed a few dimes and a nickel last time and they came out looking like they were copper plated!

As for the machine, it's a Thumbler's Tumbler, Model AR-12 from Auburn WA. It belongs to a detecting buddy of mine and looks like it is an old unit, probably 30-40 years old. I'm pretty sure I've seen some threads on the Friendly Forum that were on tumbling coins and where to purchase inexpensive machines, I read those and most folks use a similar process to mine.

After cleaning the coins, I get them counted for free at my local credit union and converted to cash, then to silver at the local coin shop. Sometimes we work hard for our detecting finds, so no sense giving 12% to the Coinstar machine!
 
One other note of interest, I cleaned my friend's clad and then the pennies, he missed some Zincolns that were still in the penny group, here is what they look like after the tumble clean!
 

Attachments

  • zincolns.jpg
    zincolns.jpg
    96.1 KB · Views: 170
One other note of interest, I cleaned my friend's clad and then the pennies, he missed some Zincolns that were still in the penny group, here is what they look like after the tumble clean!
this photo makes me want to buy a tumbler! swiss cheese zincolns:yes:
 
One other note of interest, I cleaned my friend's clad and then the pennies, he missed some Zincolns that were still in the penny group, here is what they look like after the tumble clean!

Hey, you could try selling those on eBay! :laughing: Advertise them as 'holy coins'. Someone would buy them I recon :D
 
Back
Top Bottom