How many believers in "Where there's wheats there's silver"?

[gearhead]

Looking for hope, all I'm pulling out of the ground is clad and wheat pennies (not that that's a horrible thing).

 

[Larry (IL)]

The only reason I could think of why that would not be true is if someone cherry picked the site. Silver coinage was made for 5 more years from the last wheat, longer yet for the Halves.

 

[jmaryt]

been MY experience over the years (32) that whenever you 'hit" wheats,you WILL eventually hit silver if you stay on site!

(h.h!)
j.t.

 

[Monte]

While we had six years of general silver coinage after the last 'wheat-back' (1959 thru 1964), silver coins started to be pulled from circulation much more quickly due to their value. Every year I get wheaties in change far more frequently than I do silver coins, and I know they were very, very commonly carried through the '60s and '70s before they started to thin out of circulation.

So, I consider the particular site, the era when it would have had some of the most use and potential for coin loss, and then factor in the amount of detecting the site might have seen. Yes, when I am finding a LOT of wheaties I anticipate a greater likelihood of popping a silver coin, but when it's just an occasional wheat or two every here and there, while possible, I don't get too excited. Until I actually recover silver, that is. Far more pennies were carried and subsequently lost than dimes and quarters, to be sure.

Monte

 

[Rob (IL)]

I've several sites I hunt regularly where I find Wheats and no silver. I will admit they have been hunted before by others. Rob

 

[Elton]

It depends on the area...many places have Wheats that not a single Silver coin is ever found..

 

[Dave~UT]

n/t

 

[ron_c]

I have wondered why so many wheat backs are still being found but very little silver. How did we miss so many wheats during the 60's, 70's and 80's but found so much silver? Like Monte said, the silver had more valve and the wheat backs were after all just worth a penny. The wheat backs were still being used in circulation and still being lost but not so with the silver. This would be one of the reasons why so many wheats are still being found today. Of course some of wheat backs and silver were just missed or deeper than the detector could detect during the 60's and 70's.

 

[Elton]

Some of the machines I used back then..was lucky to go 3-4 inches in the ground with the signal..and then you had to keep hitting the switch to reset for drift...
So your statement makes a lot of sense.at 4" the coil was only covering maybe 3/4 to 1 inch at depth. So a lot were missed too.

 

[Steve Howard]

Wheaties are a good sign there may be silver, like black sand is a good sign there may be gold. However, sometimes black sand stands alone and sometimes Wheaties stand alone. You have to remember, during the Wheaties period you could actually buy something with a penny. Big thing about Wheaties, if your finding them... you will find silver if its there. In western USA soils it is typically not possible to separate or cherry pick Mercury and Seated Dimes from the Wheaties. Dimes having the longer circulation periods of the day "worn thin" issues. So long as you could tell what they were, Banks rarely pulled them from circulation. Effective cherry picking is typically limited to 25 cents and up.

Howard

 

[dave5710]

I believe, gearhead. Steve that helps explain why we find several times more silver dimes than quarters and halves combined. Even years ago, people didn't think anything less than a quarter was worth messing with.

 

[Whiskers]

Here's another thought. When digging up a coin, it's possible to get an idea of how long it's been buried by it's appearance. For example, when I collected coins back in the '50s, pennies from the teens commonly came in Good condition (no wheat lines showing), from the '20s in Good to Very Good (part wheat lines), 30's in VG to Very Fine (full wheat lines, and '40s in Very Fine to Extra Fine (approaching new). Pennies from the '50s were near new. Of course there were many exceptions, but based on that and the surface condition (patina & corrosion present) of the coin dug I can make a fairly accurate guess about when the penny might have been lost. Figuring most of the silver had been withdrawn by 1975, I can then judge my chances of finding any. - Whiskers