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A Couple of Pix dated Mar 1973
- Thread starter John LA
- Start date
dewcon4414
Well-known member
Not only was the silver a plenty back then, but you really had an open range back then. My uncle hunted a few small towns.... and i mean every yard. People were just friendlier and easier going.
Dew
Dew
I started in about 1975 (Jr. High age) and would ride my bike around town, knocking on doors to hunt old yards, and hunting schools that were ...... relative to NOW .... virgin. But I can tell you it wasn't as easy as you might think. Sure, if we "knew" what we know now, and had the type of machines that we have now, yes it would be a bonanza. But at the time, there was no discrimination, so imagine having 4 out of 5 targets be foil. And there was no depth compared to now, so imagine maxing out at 4 or 5" (if you REALLY listened hard). And we didn't have the presence of mind to go to the really exotic places (like old stage stops or whatever), and instead just hit schools, parks, yards, and sandboxes. And we had no concept of old-town demolition sites, side-walk removals, etc.... It wasn't that some people didn't try the more exotic spots. Some certainly did. But after a few bullets, harmonica reeds, slag, etc.... you would usually leave for "greener grounds" like cleaner schools. I kick myself now for not realizing that those "worthless" pistol balls and henry shells were EXACTLY the reason to stick to those exotic spots, because they mean you're in the strata/site of seateds, etc... The junk threshold was already bad enough with no disc, so it just seemed reasonable, at the time, to give up on a site, if you weren't getting coins by the 6th or 7th target or so.
Ironcially, the gradual introduction of discriminators towards the mid to later 1970s, actually probably was an intitial detriment to some of us hunters. Because the immediate reaction was to crank it up, and FINALLY be able to pass foil and tabs (makes sense, right?). But that "I will dig no junk" mentality crept over into causing us to avoid "junky" spots, like stage stops, ruins, etc... Because afterall, you can effortlessly go troll for silver roosies or washingtons in the turf somewhere, right? So why dig bullet shells and old clock part cr*p?
Unlike now, there wasn't a lot of mentor who really understood how and where to get old coins. There was no info. exchange, very few clubs (except in perhaps the very biggest cities), etc... You maybe knew 1 or 2 guys who either got you into it, or whom you met when you saw them md'ing. So if their mentality was turf and sandboxes, you tended to do like them. There were few guys I heard of in my area who had seateds and spanish reales under their belt, who despised newer silver, but they were the rare breed back then, and most persons, despite the lush hunting opportunities, just didn't have the machines or the smarts to fully exploit the times.
Ironcially, the gradual introduction of discriminators towards the mid to later 1970s, actually probably was an intitial detriment to some of us hunters. Because the immediate reaction was to crank it up, and FINALLY be able to pass foil and tabs (makes sense, right?). But that "I will dig no junk" mentality crept over into causing us to avoid "junky" spots, like stage stops, ruins, etc... Because afterall, you can effortlessly go troll for silver roosies or washingtons in the turf somewhere, right? So why dig bullet shells and old clock part cr*p?
Unlike now, there wasn't a lot of mentor who really understood how and where to get old coins. There was no info. exchange, very few clubs (except in perhaps the very biggest cities), etc... You maybe knew 1 or 2 guys who either got you into it, or whom you met when you saw them md'ing. So if their mentality was turf and sandboxes, you tended to do like them. There were few guys I heard of in my area who had seateds and spanish reales under their belt, who despised newer silver, but they were the rare breed back then, and most persons, despite the lush hunting opportunities, just didn't have the machines or the smarts to fully exploit the times.