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Where’s the silver?

Collin1776

Full Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2018
Messages
228
Hey all. I use the Garrett Ace 250 with a DD coil, I’m kind of a newbie so I have a few questions because I’ve been digging a lot of wheat pennies and a lot of new change. I know where there’s wheat pennies there is supposed to be silver! So my question is am I just having a bad streak or am I messing something up in my settings? When I’m in a field looking for just coins I tend to keep it on coin mode, the sensitivity in the middle or lower if it’s an easy dig and I usually discriminate iron and foil. Thanks guys!


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Also it seems to be accurate when it tells me it’s a penny and only a penny it usually is. The rest are kind of shaky accuracy and if it goes between coins there is a good chance it’s not even a coin


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I mostly coin shoot and a lot of times silver dimes and deeper silver has numbers like a copper penny or clad dime. So keep diggin the copper penny and dime signals and you’ll eventually get some silver.

Many many times stuff ringing up high in the silver range ends up bigger deeper junk like a can lid, or a good solid chunk of aluminum. Learn to size things up and pay attention to your target area to avoid that. Just dug some can slaw? Chances are there will be more nearby because a lawn mower hit it and shredded it.

However, coins tend to be clustered together. If you found a wheat penny slow down and do a 5 square around that area and scan like a tic-tac- to board. Two passes left to right and to passes top to bottom. There is a good chance another coin also fell and scattered near that penny and it might be silver.

A big part of metal detecting is learning to think about behaviors that cause people to lose things in the first place. You’ll get better at that and better at using your equipment and then you’ll start finding more silver.

I hunted my back yard 10 times with 5 different detectors before I finally found a silver dime in it and thought I had pretty much cleaned it out. I am sure there are a few more coins I have missed, still.

CS
 
I mostly coin shoot and a lot of times silver dimes and deeper silver has numbers like a copper penny or clad dime. So keep diggin the copper penny and dime signals and you’ll eventually get some silver.



Many many times stuff ringing up high in the silver range ends up bigger deeper junk like a can lid, or a good solid chunk of aluminum. Learn to size things up and pay attention to your target area to avoid that. Just dug some can slaw? Chances are there will be more nearby because a lawn mower hit it and shredded it.



However, coins tend to be clustered together. If you found a wheat penny slow down and do a 5 square around that area and scan like a tic-tac- to board. Two passes left to right and to passes top to bottom. There is a good chance another coin also fell and scattered near that penny and it might be silver.



A big part of metal detecting is learning to think about behaviors that cause people to lose things in the first place. You’ll get better at that and better at using your equipment and then you’ll start finding more silver.



I hunted my back yard 10 times with 5 different detectors before I finally found a silver dime in it and thought I had pretty much cleaned it out. I am sure there are a few more coins I have missed, still.



CS



Thanks for all of the information I really appreciate it. You’re right when you say that when there’s one coin there’s probably one around because who just drops one coin aha so I’ll make sure I scan next wheatie I get. Thanks again!


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Keep at it Collin,you’ll get there. You’re already paying attention and mentally recording what the machine does and what the corresponding target really is. That’s HUGE. Also,what Diggery said about understanding how the coins became lost in the first place will lead you to where they SHOULD be.
As far as public places go,old ball fields are by FAR my biggest producer. Be prepared to seek coins in the 9-10” range if your ball fields are like mine. Learning to go DEEP is one key to finding old coins,as they generally are deep! Not always,but most of mine came from the 8”+ mark. For this you need a BIG coil,so don’t be afraid to pony up for the monster coil that will fit your machine.
Many coins are hidden amongst garbage and iron,but hunting deep(where others before you could not even see) will net you reliable silver.
Lastly,as Beep said....CONFIRM that the age of the site is correct for what you want. Don’t guess,or assume. Find old photos to make sure. Old playground equipment gets reused at newer places,so don’t go by that alone.
Trust your machine! If it has said you have a bad target and the last 200 times you’ve dug that signal and dug junk,don’t dig those up! You’re just burning valuable time by doing so.
Carry on...
 
Thanks a lot I appreciate all the info you guys make it a lot easier for me with all the great tips, I really appreciate the heck out of it. As for the coil goes is the DD coil good enough? I have that


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If your area has other detectorists they might have it well cleaned of older shallow coins with Etracs, Ctx's etc will there be much silver left within range of the Ace 250?
Getting the deeper stuff is a much harder game, you run out of reliable ID, one way scratchy signals, more masking not just from trash but the soil itself and it's worse if you need a big coil, you need to run less disc, higher sensitivity/gain, GB manipulation etc
A silver quarter at 6" can easily be masked by a tiny nailhead above it at 3", so it's quite possible that there's shallow silver still to be found.
Personally, i'd be testing the heck out of my detector at home to find it's strong point, and play to that strength.

I've been chasing the deep stuff long enough to know that there's not many deep machines about, the manufacturers will tell you this and that, but the majority of mid/high end machines have little between them when you match them in freq and coil size.
But there is machines that with the right freq/coil size/filtering etc that are turned into specialized units for specific targets at depth.
On my well used sites, i rarely dig a coin sized target below 8".
 
I know where there’s wheat pennies there is supposed to be silver!

Not necessarily true. Wheat pennies remain in circulation and people still drop them this very day. Old wheat pennies indicate that there should be silver, but, more likely than not, that silver was dug by someone else decades ago.
 
I would guess you are still hunting public places like parks. The easy silver disappeared back in the 1980s. When the discrimination detectors hit the market, it was a silver rush for the hobby. Most people simple went out and scalped everything dime and above.

The good news is that as long as you are digging old wheats, you will dig silver. They may be mixed with cents, or deep, or on edge... but there are still some hiding.
 
Just keep hunting an it will show up even accidentally...I found a 64 rosie in a chip Totter this am! I found a mid 1800's Indian penny in one last year! Even a blind nut gets a squirrel now and then! :laughing:
 

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I would guess you are still hunting public places like parks. The easy silver disappeared back in the 1980s. When the discrimination detectors hit the market, it was a silver rush for the hobby. Most people simple went out and scalped everything dime and above.



The good news is that as long as you are digging old wheats, you will dig silver. They may be mixed with cents, or deep, or on edge... but there are still some hiding.



I try and stay out of public places. I usually do lots near old homes or strips of land by them. I’ve been on the battlefield for the battle of Frenchtown as well. I’ve done fair grounds, baseball fields, schools, barns, etc.


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