FINALLY..... dug my VERY first silver EVER ! (also dug my second wheatie ever !)

GKL

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FINALLY..... dug my VERY first silver EVER ! (also dug my second wheatie ever !)

......while it might not seem like much to those of you with good locations to hunt and who dig silver on a regular basis, this first silver has been a VERY long time coming for me :laughing:

While technically I started detecting back at the end of July 2016 with a BH Tracker IV, my responsibilities as a caregiver limited my detecting to a very occasional hunt, it wasn't until about the beginning of October 2019 that I was able to start hunting on a more regular basis depending on the weather, while this year I've been able to do a lot of regular hunting the past few months.

When I initially saw my first silver in the hole my first impression was that it was an aluminum slug as I had been so used to only seeing clad coins in the dirt :lol:

Anyhow, .....I now present to you my VERY first silver EVER ......a 1945 Merc !!!!
20201012_1ST_ever_dug_silver_1945_Merc.jpg20201012_first_silver_1945_Merc.jpg20201012_first_silver_1945_Merc-b.jpg

I also found my second Wheatie ever .......a 1945 Wheatie ! (also found 2 modern pennies (not shown), and of course some trash :lol:)
20201012_2nd_Wheatie_1945.jpg20201012_2nd_Wheatie_1945_b.jpg

Here's the trash from that 3 hour hunt today at the walking park with a history dating back to the 1700's
(NOTE: the piece of trash on the far right was actually in the same hole as the Merc, thankfully I found the Merc first :lol:)
(after finding my first silver I was hoping to find another right away in the same area, but got some bottle caps and other trash instead :lol:)
20201012_MZP_trash.jpg

.......finding my first silver was fantastic, but wait, there's icing on this cake ! :lol:

About 1/2 hour after digging the silver a lady walked nearby to tend to a sapling tree and asked if I found stuff, she said the local ladies club planted that and another tree, I was thinking at first uh-oh, hope she doesn't try to have detecting stopped in the park, I mentioned hoping to find (among other things) historical relics and that I found an old coin, I also showed her a nice neat plug I had dug and explained how properly replaced it can look as if a hole was never dug.

Anyhow, thinking she left (and hoping I convinced her my hobby was harmless :lol:) she came back with a man (I assume her husband) and he mentioned having tried getting into detecting in the past until someone stole his detector and had a detecting question about how to tell if a target is a bottle cap. I mentioned finding my first silver and he thought it was neat, he jokingly said it looked like one he dropped :laughing: (it was dug about 8 inches deep :lol:)

When we were done talking and he was getting ready to leave I casually mentioned that I could detect his yard and it was okay with him, but he was referring to a vacant 2 acre property and house he has that dates back to the 1800's, he gave me his phone number and said call him about 10 minutes before I want to hunt there and he'll meet me there long enough to show me the property lines, all he asked for was that he gets to see what I find. I told him if he ever decides to get back into detecting I'd be glad to help him out with some detecting tips.

.....and to think I almost didn't ask about detecting his property, so don't let an opportunity to ask detecting permission go by - all they can do is say no, but they just might say yes ! (so I should be able to get a hunt in there later this week !)
 
Good luck on your permission and congratulations on the silver. It took over a year for me to dig my first silver but when you figure it out they will keep coming.
 
Forgot to include in my initial first post at the top:

The 3 hour hunt today mentioned above in which I dug my first silver ever came after the last 3 hunts I did with more humble results:

Thursday 8th at the same park as above:
3 hour hunt got me 3 modern pennies, a junk ring, and trash

Friday 9th at my 3+ acre permission that used to be a trailer park:
3 hour hunt got me 3 modern pennies and trash

Saturday 10th about an hour hunt in my own yard before the rain
about a 1 hour hunt got me one modern penny, a rusty screwdriver and trash

......my point is that I have fun regardless of the results so it's easy to be determined to keep detecting and not give up because it is so much fun, and eventually you can be surprised with some neat finds ! :D
 
Congratulations Gary on your first Silver and it's a 45 Merc ! Along with that a 45 wheat
both from the Philadelphia mint , What are the chances of that ? Also congrats on your new permission . :dingding::clapping:
 
Good luck on your permission and congratulations on the silver. It took over a year for me to dig my first silver but when you figure it out they will keep coming.

Thanks !!!! (so you can appreciate a long wait for silver too !)

.....after you finally dig that first silver, it's a little easier to think a silver TID might actually be silver instead of an aluminum bottle cap :laughing:
 
Congratulations. You have worked long and hard to find that merc. How high did your heart rate climb when you realized you had found your first silver? For me it never gets old. So now you have some more dirt to detect. Good luck on that new permission.
 
Congratulations. You have worked long and hard to find that merc. How high did your heart rate climb when you realized you had found your first silver? For me it never gets old. So now you have some more dirt to detect. Good luck on that new permission.

Thanks !!!! ......I was so used to only finding clad that at first glance in the hole my first impression was that it was an aluminum slug :laughing:

.....when I pulled the target out of the hole and recognized it as a Merc it felt like WOW :shock: I really can dig silver after all ! :laughing:

I've been checking out my new permission via Google maps satellite view and streetview so I have an idea what it will look like when I get to hunt there later this week, it looks like a big enough place to keep me busy for a while :lol:
 
Congrats on the silver! Took me a long time to land my first as well. Keep it up, there's more to be found!
 
Congrats on the silver! Took me a long time to land my first as well. Keep it up, there's more to be found!

Thanks !!!! ......I'm kinda surprised at how many others also have had to hunt a good while before finding their first silver, guess it makes us appreciate silver a lot more when we do find it !
 
Congratulations and well deserved!!! May I be the 1st of many.:dingding:

Thanks !!!!! .......not that I still wouldn't have fun anyhow, but after finding that first silver you kinda hope it's not as long before finding the 2nd one :lol:

(of course I do realize finding good permissions might help a lot)
 
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