Silver coins in the states went away almost 50 years ago and probably circulated freely for 5-10 years or so. I remember seeing them with frequency in the early 70s, rarely if ever now in change. If there's an old house or park that's been around since the early 1900s, then there's definitely silver there, even if it's in a heavily searched area. You just may have to really work for it. Remember that even big trees that are a couple feet in diameter weren't around even several decades ago, or open areas may have had trees there decades ago. In parks with huge trees and/or lots of tree cover, you may have to work that much harder to get in and around roots. In some areas, I get a good hit and see that my target is directly under a 5 inch diameter root. It's a matter of how bad I want the coin, and how sensitive the area is...i.e. in the middle of an immaculately maintained park. I could dig a hug hole to get that sucker and then be banned by the park staff or kicked out, so in that case I'd rather just abandon it. Even if I'm not digging a big hole but trying carefully, the more time I'm at a spot, the more people THINK I am destroying the ground and the more chance I'll draw the wrong attention.
Drive through old parts of town, look for new construction, or even old construction. Sometimes a road is dug up, or an old lawn is removed at a home or park. try to get permission to search there as even if it's been an area that's been searched, there may have been 6 or more inches of topsoil removed making some really old coins more accessible.
I have to say though, there is something really exciting about reaching into a hole and feeling a coin before you can see it. Silver is usually very smooth, unlike clad coins that are caked with dirt. Depends upon the ground/soil condition and minerals, but here in central Florida, silver is usually smooth to the touch.
While coins do sink over time, there are still plenty of silver coins within reach. And remember, if you find wheat pennies, then that means there is silver there too.
Oh, one more thing. Sometimes with newer neighborhoods, ground soil and dirt is brought in from other places, and sometimes that soil can be rich with coins. While it may sound like I'm making this us, my 3/2 home I lived in with my parents in the 70s and 80s was built in the 60s. I metal detected my own yard of course and found one spot with half a dozen standing liberty half dollars down about a foot (Thank you, my beautiful 1980 Garrett Deepseeker, I miss you so...). I had no idea how they got there, as this area was just woods before the neighborhood was built, with no homes around anywhere. My search of neighbor's homes brought other circa 1960s silver but no more halves or coins from that era.
Man I can't wait to get my new detector...
