I was just looking at my Silver finds in the last few weeks

[Elton]

2 1950 Silver Quarters
4 mercury dimes 40's
1 Rosie Dime 53

Same area, two different machines One being the F75 .............

Coins all ranged right around the same year dates... I wonder if that is because people hung out around the same time in that area of the park...or it's just an odd thing.. coincidence finds. The park has grown as it is a county park and expanded down river over the years.. So that may be a factor of areas in use and when they were....

Not complaining as my Silver finds have been way down the last two years......... I am going back and doing some more detecting in that area this week.. So hope I find some more.. and can see where the dates are ........ To be honest I have never really listed dates of Silver I find, or even check it for dates.Just keep in mind if it was Rosies, Barbers, or Mercs.. ... I just throw it all in a container and keep it.
Any of you ever notice the dates from an area.. Are they close ??? Let me know. If I can get a handle on this May be able to go to Library and see what events were happening on those dates and figure out where more Silver may be.. in the general areas..

 

[marcomo]

Elton, glad to see you are finding more silver!

A lot of times you can get an idea of when a silver coin was dropped by its condition. Or any coins for that matter, although silver is easier to tell because it corrodes so much less than other coin metals.

I've noticed that 1964 silvers I find are usually in excellent condition, many times almost uncirculated blazers. Makes sense when you consider that a 1964 coin was probably dropped within a year or two at the most of being minted since silver disappeared pretty quickly out of circulation after 64. Older silver is sometimes in better condition, most likely because it was dropped shortly after being minted, but it also can be very worn. Mercs and silver rosies (and all silver Washingtons) circulated until shortly after 1964. But the closer to 1964 the silver, the less time it had to circulate before being dropped. Of course, a silver coin technically could be dropped significantly after 1964, but the odds are really slim.

Chances are, those coins you found were dropped within a fairly narrow time frame. Especially if the older 40's coins show more wear than the early 50's ones.

 

[jim tn]

The housing development and surrounding area I hunt saw peak activity in the early 40's- late 50's and early 60s's and 40's and 50's are the most common dates I find. HH jim tn

 

[rick in mi]

Elton,I pay close attention to the dates of silver coins I find.The last to mercs I found where 39&43, but I also found a 53 rosie in the same area,leading me to believe these coins where dropped in the mid to late 50's due to the realitivley good shape the rosie was in when found.Now wheats can be a little decieving though cause I remember still having them as change well into the 70's. One spot I hunted revealled 13 wheats,dating from the 20's into the early 50's.but the silver I found was a 41 quarter,so this also led me to believe this area was used in the 50's also.I to will purposelly dig pulltabs to also try and date an area I am hunting.Good post,thats what makes this hobby so interesting!!!.....hh rick in mi.

 

[Elton]

The area I was finding Silver had no real significance to activity.........

................................. looks like people pulled over along side of road on the grass and either sat on the grass, or waxed their cars,, Found several old pictures at the Library showing the general area.

You can not do that anymore............. Now you have to go into designated parking areas.. Nice thing is about 8 miles of area had the pull over and park activity.. I have only hit 1/4 mile so far...


Maybe.......... Just Maybe ................. more Silver will be found..and pull tabs, and gum wrappers, and bottle caps .......

 

[gmanlight]

We hit a small spot froze in time this spring .
In about a 75 yard strip, we found 2 - 3 cent silver 3 seated dimes and a 1700s 1/2 Reale
and a old silver earring and that was about it. Told hunting bud we would probably never hit that ratio of
old vs new coins 6 -- 0 again. But it was sure fun

 

[ElginTim]

I call a lot of the finds I've made "hoofers". A lot of the places I've hunted had old coins atop newer ones in the dirt, significantly different dates and series. But given that over the years everything from cows to deer mave walked through the ground when it was wet and soft, some of the newer coins may have gotten stuck on hooves and brought up, some may have been pushed down. This is especially the case in a lot of the pasture grounds where no tilling or plowing has taken place but where critters have roamed.

On the other hand, when I find a spot where coinage is prominent from some preceeding period at a similar depth, I call it lucky! No one else got down to them ahead of me. Yeah Elton I'm liking that spot and ain't even been there! Keep 'em popping out!

 

[Lakota]

What I can tell for my area is that my mercs '37,'42,'43 and '48 were at the 6"-7" range. So either they were all dropped really close in time to one another or that is the depth that the density of the silver balanced out in the density of my Arkansas soil.

That being said though, I have dug clad at deeper depths on occasion or at the same depth as most of my silver finds.

Deepest silver I have dug was the 1918 merc that was in a old tot lot 10" down under the the wood chips and then the pea gravel under that and a couple inches into the soil below that. Could be that it was lost in the gravel and made its merry way down to the soil over the years while the wood was added later. Any way it stacks I was real glad it was my 75 I was using and not my Cutlass uMax, the Tesoro would never had touches it at that depth.

My '43 war nickel was at 3"-4" and the '58 rosie was at 3" so for what it is worth

Lakota

 

[Furious T]

Elton, I often wonder how coins end up where they do, and I note the date on all our older coins (pre-decimal) i.e. pre 1964 dates. In parks and riverside areas, it's handy to know what the area was like, way back when. For example, if there were bushes or trees in a certain area, but not there now, coins could be lost by couples "making our" by the light of the moon, or simply sitting in the shade on a hot summer's day. Years ago I was driving by a park and saw some bushy trees that had been severely pruned. I stopped and detected round them and found a number of older pre-decimal coins, which were probably still there because no-one had previously detected there. Which brings me to my next point....because there are so many of us detecting now, and detectors have been around for the last 50 yrs or so(is that right?), we dont know what has been lifted out of a particular area over the years. Parkland areas are also prone to changes from top dressing; that is, soil being brought in from other areas. If such soil has come from an area where there was an older settlement (or just some houses) coins and other artefacts could arrive, or have arived 20 years ago, and those coins or artefacts could come from an era of, say 80-90 years ago. It's a very interesting point to ponder, and I constantly do. I just dont have any definitive answer.

 

[Elton]

A ton of junk.. Pop-tops rusted Steel variety.. Good signal, good Id... Nothing stopped the High tones, and High ID... Pull tabs, Screw tops , and new money.

Most coins were in the 60's......with a couple in the early 70's........... Pennies everywhere along roadway... Lots of foil too....and small pieces of can slaw.. ( Mower chopped) I guess.

I tried the swing back of coil over the target and still got high no drop off numbers so did dig most of the rusted caps.. Once I went to 46 on notch this quieted the pull tabs except the 7" and deeper..They all rang in high.......


I'll be going back along the stretch where cars used to pull over and park..Should be some more silver.... I did notice the area I hunted today Clad was 5 to 7 " deep..