How old is old enough?

[mojotrout]

I usually have a rule when coin hunting that the spots (schools, homes, and parks) that I hunt should have been built no later than 1950 or so. My reasoning being that this gives the place a good 15 years of existence to acquire silver coins before the U.S. stopped using silver (for the most part). But Ive been reading posts and articles that show people happily finding silver in newer places. So perhaps I am filtering out places that might be productive for silver coins.

So my question is-- what is your minimum age criteria for a (old/silver) coin hunting spot? Do you do well at spots built in the 60's or 70's? Was there still quite a bit of silver coinage in general circulation into the 70's? The 80's? I'm not quite old enough to know how quickly silver coins got rare as circulated currency.

 

[bik-il]

Hunt anytime,
anywhere.
Sure its nice to find old home sites, get permission to hunt, etc, etc.
Personally i'm not so concerned with the exact age of a site.
A 'new' spot may have been built on top of an 'old' site.
I found a barber dime about a half inch down in a 'new' spot once.
The point is folks have been dropping stuff wherever they walk since man could walk.
Some of my best finds have been in the most unlikely places and at very shallow depths.

I started detecting in the late 70's while in high school. Back then you'd still find silver in circulation on occasion.
Quite a few detecting finds were silver too, as there was only a dozen or so years of clad and trash since silver coins went the way of the dodo bird.
But you just never know-
six months ago I got a '53 rosey in change,
and last week while walking to my car I found a '58 wheatie just sitting there in a sidewalk crack.

Hunt and hunt often!

HH

 

[tabman]

In some cases schools were built at sites where people congregated prior to the school being built. Go to Historical Aerials on the web. If you'll lucky, you will be able to see aerial photos taking as far back as the early fifty's. Not all areas go back that far. I'm lucky, where I detect it does. I found a buffalo nickel on a soccer field that was once a farm field and a mercury dime at a park where a old school once stood. Good luck.

tabman

 

[Elton]

n/t

 

[Rainyday101]

I second what Tabman said. You never know what was there earlier. When I have my choice though I look for older sites at least 50's or earlier. Silver chances are higher there.

 

[GunnarMN]

I am 49 and remember silver in the change all the time back in the 70.s

 

[richbat]

A school i hunt was built in the 70's i do believe and i been pulling wheats and so far 1 large cent a few silvers also. One thing you got to remember is alot of places use backfill from other areas on schools,parks ect. so what you may be finding is the goodies from other places where their getting it.

 

[kingingkunsan]

Hunt anytime,
anywhere.
Sure its nice to find old home sites, get permission to hunt, etc, etc.
Personally i'm not so concerned with the exact age of a site.
A 'new' spot may have been built on top of an 'old' site.
I found a barber dime about a half inch down in a 'new' spot once.
The point is folks have been dropping stuff wherever they walk since man could walk.
Some of my best finds have been in the most unlikely places and at very shallow depths.

I started detecting in the late 70's while in high school. Back then you'd still find silver in circulation on occasion.
Quite a few detecting finds were silver too, as there was only a dozen or so years of clad and trash since silver coins went the way of the dodo bird.
But you just never know-
six months ago I got a '53 rosey in change,
and last week while walking to my car I found a '58 wheatie just sitting there in a sidewalk crack.

Hunt and hunt often!

HH

Exactly! It could be a year old and I will hunt it. How many rings, necklaces, silver/gold charms are lost a year? you never know what you may find. Plus if it is a school it is usually easy picking for quick clad

 

[kingingkunsan]

On a funny note. I read the thread headline and my first thought was 18 years old

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Silver is where you find it.....and hunt those areas that don't look old.....one never knows what was there 100 years ago or where the fill dirt came from are just two of the reasons...Seems like the guys hunt the obvious spots whereas the other areas are untouched and ready for picking...

 

[mojotrout]

I second what Tabman said. You never know what was there earlier. When I have my choice though I look for older sites at least 50's or earlier. Silver chances are higher there.

Thanks Rainy, this is what I was looking for. In my case, I actually DO know what was ther before the park/school/etc. I have aerial photos that go back to 1939 and maps to 1895. European occupation of SW Idaho isnt old enough to have too many once-populated places buried under new places. Parks are usually built on top of old potato/wheat/alfalfa fields or pastures. Way different than eastern states that have had more or less continuous development and re-development over the past 400 years.

What I am really wondering about is when did silver coins become so rare in people's pockets that it became rare to lose it from said pockets? When does a site become too modern to expect it to hold silver coins? I have generally thought --like RainDay said-- that anything newer than the Fifties wouldnt be productive. But then i got thinking that there was still a whole bunch of silver coins in circulation well after they stopped being minted in the mid-sixties. So I was thinking maybe some of you that have a long histroy of MDing would have a better idea (based on experience rather than theory) of when they became so rare that the Law of Diminishing Returns would make you avoid a place because of its age.

Thanks for all the reponses so far! Lots of good info.

 

[fwcrawford]

I've been detecting for only about 7 years, but in that amount of time,
I have learned that silver coins can be found in the most unlikely places.
Perhaps that is why they are still there.. others have written the site off as too new, but who knows what was there many years ago.
I was searching around a yard a couple of years ago that my buddy and I have detected many times and got a coin reading.
I pinpointed the signal and when I knelt down to retreive the target, I found a silver dime laying right on top of the ground.
There was not even any grass laying on top of it.
It was obvious to me that this coin had been recently dropped.
You just never know where a silver coin will be. Just because the site is modern looking doesn't mean there isn't any silver on it.
My buddy has found some nice silver coins in playgrounds and tot lots.. probably the kids took them for show and tell and lost them while out playing.

 

[SuperUgly]

18 lol thats funny king