How deep for silver? Its not like the good old days!

[PJ in WI]

How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

I guess I never should have quit 30 yrs ago. I bought an Ace 250 and have been out 3 times. I went to 3 older areas I used to find lots of older coins at and I found 16 quarters, 7 dimes, 5 nickels and over 50 pennies. I dig all quarters and dimes and 7 of these were 5 inches plus but no silver. I dig 4 inches plus on the pennies and only 2 of those were wheats. In the 70's I was digging silver and wheaties at 2 inches. Now I'm digging 5 plus and only finding clad. How deep do I have to go? I might need a bigger shovel. I felt like a teenager again. The thrill of digging an treasure is ..... well its like I found a long lost love. I took MDing for granted 30 yrs ago. I appreciate it more now. I found a cool Shriners pin on medal. Sorry no pics as my bride has the camera and she is off defending the country.

 

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[cheese]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

There's no telling how deep it is. Sometimes it's 1" deep, other times it's so deep it barely registers on the machine. Sometimes a silver will show up at 2" when you've been digging clad at 0" to 5". It's funny that way. Good luck!

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

. . . as my bride has the camera and she is off defending the country . . .

More than the depth of coins has changed, my friend. God bless you both.

I'm guessing the shallowest silver Rosie I ever dug was 4", but who knows when it was dropped as I ocasionally pull one out of my pocket change. A silver Rosie was also one of the deepest coins I've ever dug, maybe 11", and I was amazed (and dissappointed) it wasn't a seated dime. I remember pulling Mercs out of my pocket change and my 8-year older brother had a lady that tipped him with Morgan dollars when he was a paperboy - BOY how things change. I had the same route years later but by then she'd passed away.

 

[PATreasureHunter]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

I agree with the statements above. I too have found modern clad with my ACE 250 as deep as 8 inches, and some wheat pennies as low as 2 inches. Luck of the draw I guess. Happy Hunting!

 

[DANGLANGLEY]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

I know what you mean about the good old days and digging silver fairly shallow. I've been at it for 30 years and I never thought I would be digging clad at 6 inches. But there is a bright side. Like cheese said, there's no telling how deep they will be. I've been using an Ace 250 since Christmas and a little while back I dug a mercury dime at about 4 inches. I've found a bunch of wheats at around that depth. A lot depends on how rich the soil is and how deep the topsoil is. You have a fine machine there and the silver will come just when you least expect it to. That ace likes to find rings too. Saturday I found a nice silver ring at about 2 inches and it showed up as a dime. I found one gold ring so far with it and it showed up as a nickel. Most of the gold rings I used to bench test it showed up as a nickel. Best of luck to you and happy hunting.

DANGLANGLEY

 

[ringfinder]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

You just never know what the depth will be on silver. I've dug silver at 1" and 10", you just never know.

What you have to remember, some of the coins that you didn't find back in the 70's are now deeper, with age. Your talking 37 years ago and coins shift and go deeper with age. I'd say from what I've read of the things you have found in only 3 days, your not doing to bad.

Give this detector a chance, it will produce for you. Good luck!

HH, Ringfinder

 

[stoney56]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

I think a good part of it depends also on how much man manipulates the soil environment. I've found newer clad pennies at 4-8" while other areas not touched by man since the 20's had a Barber, SLQ, and a Walker laying right on the surface.

 

[outraged]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

Ive noticed a bunch of people state in this forum "i only dig 4" and below". I can assure you please post detailed maps to where you have been going and i would love to clean it out afterwards. I have been T-hunting now for around 8 years. I dig every signal that is crisp. I learned this last year when i passed a signal at a cellar hole my father and i were hunting. I had the idea in my head my XLT says .5 inches I'm not going to waste my time on a bullet casing...Well my father watched the whole thing then basically ran to that spot. In the hole he found a 1876 CC seated dime in the best condition i have ever seen. It would have been the second CC i ever found...sigh... And it was only a half inch. See you just dont know how deep it is...Perhaps it is laying on a rock and is almost on the surface...Also when we were on our colonial site you could find them laying on the surface. I have also witnessed my father find a barber dime laying on the surface in very remote location. I say dig every crisp solid signal. I have also noticed with my XLT that sometimes it will say 2 inches but there is a nail fragment at 2 inches and there is silver at 8....I can only speak for my machine but the pinpointing will only lead you to the closest to the surface metal because as far as I'm aware when you pinpoint your machine goes into all metal mode. I am sure many people here have MUCH more experience than i do but my advise is dig away...What is the worst that could happen...you pull some unwanted junk out of the ground...(only helps for future hunting!). There is just too many variables not to dig every good signal.

 

[Colonial KirkPA]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

I found 1700s coins at 2".

 

[Mirage]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

It really depends on the site. One schoolyard Nate and I hunted 95% of the silver, wheats, IH's,and Buffalo nickels were 4-8" deep. Might have been some stuff deeper but it's hard to get the dimes and pennies at 9-10 inches.

Bob

 

[detectordave]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

I have seen so many debates about what coins do in the ground. Some folks say coins sink an inch a year while other say that since frost will heave a fence post out of the ground it will heave coins. I can tell you I have found everything at every depth. I found a 1927 quarter under a bush barely covered by dirt, I thought because it had not been covered with lawn clippings year after year. But then found an 1865 2 cent piece barely covered in a well used and well mowed area of a park. My daughter found a 1848 large cent at a very public beach. My point.....Thats what makes this hobby so awesome. Every hole could be the find of a lifetime. One last thing. I have noticed that people will swear they found something at a certain depth. I have had too many targets fall into the hole, or I was just too darn excited to pay attention to the "real" depth. I don't know how accurate folks are that say they found a barber 7.3 inches deep and on its side. I cant swear to what the target showed up as most of the time after digging a few thousand holes in a season. Hope this rant helps lol. HH dave.

 

[wildrider]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

Really depends on where you go I've found 182? capped half dime in a yard at 2 inches, 185? half dime in field at 3-4 inches.

Ive found memorial pennies 8 inches deep. The stuff is still there and some is shallow. You just have to find them. Silver is getting tougher to find as more detectors are on the market.

Burt

 

[Natman]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

I've been searching well-maintained yards for awhile now and some of the silver coins I have found were only a few inches deep!

I was digging lots of clad in the 70's as well and not alot of silver..it really does depend on the site. When you find the right one you'll see that 30 years of time doesn't always mean the silver is going to be much harder to find.

Nat

 

[Rubicon]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

My father (now 70) and I md'd the woods on our farm where they used to hold church picnics up until the 30's. We found indians, wheats and barber dimes. All the coins were within 2" of the surface. The area was completely grown over, but had not been disturbed.

 

[Ricardo_NY1]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

I'd dig everything at all levels. Deepest coins dug have always been clad quarters at like 7+ inches. Shallowest goodie was a mercury dime tangled in some grass roots, I'd say less than 1/2 inch.

 

[mmiller]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

strange that I read your post today.I did some detecting at a local park today and I found a mercury dime less then two inches and a silver Roosevelt at 1 inch so i guess that a couple of others down to the 5 inch range . so you never know.It seems just to be more luck going over them then how deep they are.good luck to you keep searching they will come.

 

[Tykit]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

I too quit for a long time, for about 20 years. Back in 1.5 years ago, but it ain't the same as it was in the 70's and 80's. Was more exiting then. Now more like work cause many zinc pennies are now more than 6" deep. Only found three silver coins these days, very frustrating. Things sure did change since then. Now I drive 45 miles to the beach, easy digging, more exitement, finding new coins and gold now and then.

 

[ringfinder]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

Ive noticed a bunch of people state in this forum "i only dig 4" and below". I can assure you please post detailed maps to where you have been going and i would love to clean it out afterwards. I have been T-hunting now for around 8 years. I dig every signal that is crisp. I learned this last year when i passed a signal at a cellar hole my father and i were hunting. I had the idea in my head my XLT says .5 inches I'm not going to waste my time on a bullet casing...Well my father watched the whole thing then basically ran to that spot. In the hole he found a 1876 CC seated dime in the best condition i have ever seen. It would have been the second CC i ever found...sigh... And it was only a half inch. See you just dont know how deep it is...Perhaps it is laying on a rock and is almost on the surface...Also when we were on our colonial site you could find them laying on the surface. I have also witnessed my father find a barber dime laying on the surface in very remote location. I say dig every crisp solid signal. I have also noticed with my XLT that sometimes it will say 2 inches but there is a nail fragment at 2 inches and there is silver at 8....I can only speak for my machine but the pinpointing will only lead you to the closest to the surface metal because as far as I'm aware when you pinpoint your machine goes into all metal mode. I am sure many people here have MUCH more experience than i do but my advise is dig away...What is the worst that could happen...you pull some unwanted junk out of the ground...(only helps for future hunting!). There is just too many variables not to dig every good signal.

I'm not sure if you read one of my previous posts about the ACE 250, but I did say that if I got a good signal and if it was 4" or more I dig it. I sort of made a mistake in saying that. What I meant to say was, if I get a good signal and like you say Crisp, I dig it, no matter what depth. The site I have been hunting, where I've been finding several silver coins, most of them have been at depths of 4" or more. But I've also dug silver at this site almost on top of the ground.

Thanks for your post, and let me say as a young detectorist you have learned many things in your short time hunting. I'm sure you and your dad, have many great years of detecting ahead of you. Hunting with your dad is Priceless.

HH, Ringfinder

 

[Merf]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

I think almost all of the silver has been harvested back in the 70s and 80s.
About the only place I find silver now is in places that have not been hunted much if any.

 

[chong2]

Re: How deep for silver? It's not like the good old days!

true, when silver hit that 50.00 high my gpa was cashing in. my opinion is you have to find a spot that has been UNTOUCHED my MDers. its not easy, i recently found 2 spots after wondering forever and hit silver twice, on both trips. dont forget people detect all over the place, all the time thinking of new places to hit. i mean me, every moment im searching for a new place where ever i drive, work home, see family. i wish i was on the east coast where its all nice and wooded and hiden spots evereywhere....