Maybe we should revise the wheat's ratio to find silver.

[Ron from Michigan]

Over the years my ratios would average 7 to 1 or even as high as 14 to 1 but would always average out lower. Wouldn't it make more sense to include nickels older than 1950 or Lincolns older than 1960? Yea I know why not just included all coins 1964 and older. Maybe other people already include this in their ratio to find silver? HH Ron

 

[still looking 52]

It seems like the silver ratio is definitely getting lower know matter how you figured it in my opinion. We use the Wheaties as a sign to let us know the area has potential for silver, when we find a few Wheaties our radar starts beeping and we slow down and start gridding that area.

 

[chuck ky]

We still find nickles from the 50's and 60's in change so they could have been lost recently.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Chuck, you have so many people now using credits cards they don't even carry change. Probably best just to stay with the wheat's being a predictor of getting close to a silver find. A couple of years ago got a small Lincoln Memorial coin spill most pennies were around 1960 and one coin in the spill was a 1964 Roosevelt dime.

 

[still looking 52]

A few years ago there was a discussion on this forum about how now people are not carrying coins anymore and in fifty years from now people will be looking for clad just the way we are not looking for silver.

 

[RLOH]

Ron, I was always at a ratio of 7 wheats to one silver and that has more or less held true for my 23 plus years of detecting. This year has me scratching my head. I have found 23 wheats over the last four hunts and not one silver. I am not complaining. I still am addicted to this hobby.

 

[jim tn]

My wheats to silver ratio for a good number of years since I started with this hobby in 1972 was 6/7 to 1. About the mid 80's as I recall, my ratio was creeping up a point or so every couple of years. About the mid 90's it seemed to level off at 12 to 1 for some years. Over the last few years my ratio has inched its way up to the 17 to 1 range. Unless one is a door knocker or is fortunate enough to come upon a virgin, or near virgin, spot, our ratio's of wheats to silver will continue to spread, i m h o. For a good number of years a lot of hunters passed up cent coins and high graded spots strictly for their silver. All wheats aren't created equal as far as tone and tid, either. Which perhaps aided in more of them being left in the ground.

Wheats are still a gauge that a spot might contain silver, but for most of us I fear, those 7 to 1 ratios are a thing of the past. HH jim tn

 

[LTimedigger]

I began this hobby in the late 70s. I can remember finding 50 silver coins just in one really hot spot. Today I may go weeks between just one. Because some of the new machines ring up a silver dime and a wheat the same, heck I'll go a while just finding a wheat sometimes. Unlike other hobbies you're dealing with a non renewable resource except for jewelry. A couple of years ago I dug the front yard of my church which is pretty old. Found nothing but clad except for a couple of war nickels. A friend told me he didn't find much 20 years earlier but I had a better machine and figured I'd do better. Nope. It was obvious that the silver seekers had come through long ago. I then moved to the front yard of the office in back of my church. Found six wheats, six silvers, a gold ring and a metal car from the 20's in great condition. I've found a lot of unique/valuable stuff in the last few years even in public places but except for a double strike silver quarter, all the best stuff was not a silver coin. Point being we are probably going to have to change our mindset to one of quality over quantity. Just the reality.

 

[still looking 52]

This year my brother Ron and myself started hunting the woods more than we ever have and our silver ratio has definitely improved since we switched. Granted, our total coin count has dropped but the coins we are finding our a lot older than the mowed areas.
We will sometimes go for a hour and not get one good signal and then one of us will get a nice high tone and a high percentage of the time it's silver. Ron has already found more this year than any year since he retired in 2010 and the year is only 1/2 over.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Still looking, I agree the low hanging fruit has been picked. And some of the finds that are left are great, about 3 weeks ago my coin count was low but one was a 1909 Barb Half week before that a 1874 IH. I started metal detecting when I was 17 this August I'll be 66 and yes these hunted areas need to be searched again
.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

n/t

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Jim Tn, not a door knocker. Had people ask me to search their places but they keep their finds. Did this for an old lady when I was at the museum, but not much fun when you find the best coins since detecting and give them up too much time, work and not even compensated for your battery cost. I like these old city parks, but always legal carry and search with a friend.

 

[michael NY]

This is a great topic but i will throw a wrench into the raitio for me. Hunting in spots where its been detected before many times over by lots of people. The ability using a more selective detector thats can see through trash single out silver coins masked by trash this is just my opinion and expereince.



Michael

 

[Mark kus]

I’ve been hitting old parks near me that have been hammered and I dig all the iffy tones and have found lots of silver this year over 100 oldest 1776 beautiful 2 Reale two weeks ago .
But I hunt real slow and lots of edges under trees hit three walkers so far this year also so there’s still plenty of silver around just slow way down and dig the iffy ones.
HH
Mark

 

[Dancer]

The Wheaties. Yeah just might out last our latest Jem. The Zinc penny. In 15 to 20 years any Copper penny will probably be scarce.

 

[LTimedigger]

So will zincs. About 5 years in the ground and they're toast.