Back in the day......???

[Parkit]

I was going to throw in a photo to kind of illustrate a question I have, but that 120k limit is a killer. So my question is "Was anyone out there detecting while pre-65 coins were still real money?" Whether using a mine detector or whatever, did anyone have the experience of EVERY quarter, dime and half they found being silver? If so I can't imagine it, although I guess at the time it was just business as usual. Just how heady were the days immediately following the start of clad coinage? About how long did it take for the silver to really start drying up? I'm not talking about the long-forgotten swimming pool, campground, fairgrounds or whatever that turn research into reality today by providing "virgin" territory, I'm talking about the everyday school yard, park, beach or whatever people were hitting when any kind of detector became available, "back in the day".
I'm just curious as to the history of our hobby and how many people reading this forum were involved in it from the start.

I dug 130 coins from the school complex I've been hitting lately, and the 21 clad dimes and 18 clad quarters is what made me start thinking of this question.

 

[GetRdone]

I started metal detecting in 1966, back then I only had a basic detector (Relco), it found metal of all kinds, but still dug a bunch of silver coins, then took a break, didn't have time with work and all, purchased anew Garrett ADS111, in 1982 and hunted quit steadly until 1984, in that period of time and with the advance in the hobby, I pulled out several silver dollars from the 1800's, IH from 1859 to 1909, seated halves, quarters, dimes, as well as a large accumilation of barber coinage, liberty, buffalo, jefferson nickles, mercury, roosevelt dimes, and silver quarters, those were the GOOD OLD DAYS, but don't despair, I just purchased a new GTI 2500, and was out 4 times with it and have found and IH, 15 wheats 1917-1945, 1876-CC seated liberty quarter and a 1944 quarter, along with the wonderful worthless clad asortment, SO THERE'S STILL SOME OUT THERE.

 

[Uncle Willy]

I started in 1963 when digging silver was like digging clad now. It was the coin of the realm so wghat else would one dig. When they stopped minting silver coins it took a few years for them to dry up and drop out of circulation.

A lot of people hoarded them until the Hunt brothers drove the price of silver up to over $50 an ounce nearly 30 years ago and a lot of people dumped their hoards and millions of these coins were melted down. I was in a coin store during that period and people were lined up clear outside with bags of silver coins and anything made of silver. I watched many a beautiful coin go over the counter that day.

When I lived in VEgas during the late fifties and early sixties the silver dollar was king then, the standard coin of commerce, and everybody had pockets full of them, including me, but I never had brains enough to save any.

I was still finding silver coins in the eighties but they dried up fast after that. They can still be found in the Midwest, South, and the east coast because people were living there and losing money before many western states were discovered or settled. A friend of mine who used to own D&K Detectors here in Portland, at one time had a wooden milk box brim full of silver coins he had pulled out of the local parks and schools. THose days are gone forever. One of the first things I found when I started was a complete roll of Buffalo nickels, which was quite a find in 1963.

THe government really shafted us when they took away our right to own real money and a gold and silver standard to back up our paper money. THe money we have now is worthless and they can print and circulate as much of it as they want and back it up with nothing. They print this monopoly money, loan it out, and collect interest on money that is worthless and backed up by nothing. That's why inflation is rampant.

In 1923 inflation hit Germany so hard that it cost $25,000 to buy a postage stamp and a $25,000 dollar bill ( Mark ) was the smallest bill printed. Employees were let off work three times each day so they could run out and purchase what they needed before the prices went up. That could happen here very easily. Just 30 short years ago you could buy a car that costs $30,000 today for $3000.

Bill

 

[Parkit]

Thanks for the replies, I kinda figured that digging up silver back then was pretty much a yawn since that's all there was.

I've been in the hobby since about 1982, I bought a Garrett Marksman while I was GI stationed in Mississippi. It wasn't impossible to find areas that weren't hunted out at that time, and while digging up a silver Mercury or Roosevelt dime wasn't exactly common, it wasn't rare either. My best find in those first years was a standing liberty quarter at a school in Alabama. My best hunting place was a local dirt race track, and while I didn't keep count I'm sure I took at least 400 coins out of there in two days. The track is still there, but is now ankle deep in pull tops, pull tabs, screw tops, foil and so much garbage I'm afraid to walk there.

I kept that Marksman and still have it, but just got my ACE 250 in December. Since then I've pulled up a total of 1992 coins, 1512 of which have been memorial pennies. I don't do good on quarters for some reason, I'm at 98. I've managed to dig 14 silver coins, all but one have come from the same place I continue to work with diminishing results. That area has also given up some sterling serving ware, a few religious medals and one gold band.

Just for the record, I've NEVER found: an Indian Head penny, anything seated, a buffalo nickel, a "V" nickel, or any type of silver half other than a silver clad Kennedy. The only dollars I've ever found are the Sacajawea's. The only Barbers I've ever found are two dimes that were so worn all you could make out were the "o" mint mark, and I found those without a detector while I was sifting a bottle dump.

I guess the one thing I can say with certainty is that I enjoy going out with my detector more now than I did when I first started 25 years ago. On the other hand, my finds were better for the first 6-7 years I had a detector.

Thanks again for the responses
Steve

 

[awhitster]

I just found a 1960 rosie and a 1939 merc in the last week. It's sparce but still out there.

 

[GetRdone]

Bill's right about the silver melt, many good silver coins were lost in that exercise, the thing I wonder about, where no records were kept of the dates that were melted is the actual remaing dates of any piticular coin, as the mintage listed in the coin books, far from represent what is probably left, even high mintage coins of the time, have probably been greatly reduced from when originally minted. As to Bills reply about doing away with any hard backing for our money, it still say's IN GOD WE TRUST, and brother it's a good thing we do, otherwise Bill's prediction, as he stated could easily happen, Another thought, talking about melting coins, with the price of copper what it is, I'm wondering if we could see the same thing happen to the penny, that happened to silver, just a thought!!!

 

[Parkit]

I think it's already happened to the penny. Zinc.

 

[Uncle Willy]

I fully expect them to do away with the penny. It costs more than it's worth and you can't buy anything with a penny anymore. The kids throw them away. Every so often I get into a penny pitch at one of the schools where the kids have tossed hundreds of pennies.

Bill

 

[DavHut]

This is why I went to jewelry and coin quantity as a measure of success. 50 coins/per day and any shiny stuff makes for a good outing in my new way of reckoning.

Yes, there is some silver out there, but it is more of a random occurence now. Good research and knowledge of your area can help, but I gave up on that being the only thing out there worth finding.