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Silver Coins?
- Thread starter XP-Man
- Start date
Simply put, there are way more dimes dropped than quarters, silver or clad. They are much smaller and less likely to be noticed when dropped. Also dime mintages are historically a lot higher than quarters so more dimes have been circulated.
Neither a quarter or a dime has much buying power nowadays. But the further you go back in time, the more they would buy. During the depression, a dime would buy you two loaves of bread. And dropping a quarter was a major loss if you were poor as so many were back then.
Neither a quarter or a dime has much buying power nowadays. But the further you go back in time, the more they would buy. During the depression, a dime would buy you two loaves of bread. And dropping a quarter was a major loss if you were poor as so many were back then.
as D&P OR, and marcomo say, those are just the percentages of the demographics of coin-circulation, in the silver years (1964 and earlier). Unlike the ratios of dimes to quarters in your pocket right now, it seems that the dimes-to-quarters ratios in people's pockets then, was different. So for example if you were in a place prolific with easy clad right now, you might expect a certain # of dimes per each quarter you'd get. But for sites giving up older coins, it seems the dime ratio was higher. Go figure, a quarter bought a lot more back then !
Another factor might be that quarters are much more easily seen, when dropped, as opposed to dimes which are obscured in grass blades easier . Hence more likely to see the quarter you just dropped, versus a dime. This might hold some truth too, since I've seen how after beach storm erosion, when silver coins are showing up on the beach, the quarter ratio seems to be a little higher. Sand hides things much easier, so you could loose a quarter or a half , and immediately not see it when it hits dry fluffy sand.
Another factor might be that quarters are much more easily seen, when dropped, as opposed to dimes which are obscured in grass blades easier . Hence more likely to see the quarter you just dropped, versus a dime. This might hold some truth too, since I've seen how after beach storm erosion, when silver coins are showing up on the beach, the quarter ratio seems to be a little higher. Sand hides things much easier, so you could loose a quarter or a half , and immediately not see it when it hits dry fluffy sand.
GeorgeinSC
Well-known member
Dimes are easy to lose. As an example last Saturday I detected an Old National Guard Armory. Found a 1941 Mercury dime and a 1950 Washington Quarter. Stopped on the way home to purchase a watermelon from a roadside vendor. Pulled my money out of the pocket where I had put the coins for safe keeping. Got home and the dime was no longer in my pocket but the quarter was still there. Yes I am bummed as I do not find a lot of silver coins.
This explanation for the disparity is another possibility:
If you're hunting in an area (parks and school turf typically) that was heavily picked over in the BFO and all-metal-TR days (late '60s to early '70s) might have had the quarters and halves un-intentionally cherry-picked. The reason is, those machines lacked sensitivity to smaller objects. So .... like today, they went deeper on bigger targets, but not as deep on smaller targets.
I distinctly recall with my first detector, a Whites 66TR, digging numerous silver washington quarters, before EVER getting a mercury dime. And I talked to a guy in our town who was detecting by about 1964, and he recalled getting several silver halves, and numerous silver quarters from a particular older elementary school in our town. By the time the '80s and '90s rolled around, you could still go there and get silver dimes (because the depth of machines was evolving rapidly in those years). But .... no ... it was much rarer to get silver quarters, and especially halves. Those were just easy pickens for the earlier machines.
But this explanation assumes that that type hunt demographics were occuring in your locale, and also assumes they were thorough to the ability of their machine, covered the school or park thoroughly, etc.... Not likely, but ... is possible.
If you're hunting in an area (parks and school turf typically) that was heavily picked over in the BFO and all-metal-TR days (late '60s to early '70s) might have had the quarters and halves un-intentionally cherry-picked. The reason is, those machines lacked sensitivity to smaller objects. So .... like today, they went deeper on bigger targets, but not as deep on smaller targets.
I distinctly recall with my first detector, a Whites 66TR, digging numerous silver washington quarters, before EVER getting a mercury dime. And I talked to a guy in our town who was detecting by about 1964, and he recalled getting several silver halves, and numerous silver quarters from a particular older elementary school in our town. By the time the '80s and '90s rolled around, you could still go there and get silver dimes (because the depth of machines was evolving rapidly in those years). But .... no ... it was much rarer to get silver quarters, and especially halves. Those were just easy pickens for the earlier machines.
But this explanation assumes that that type hunt demographics were occuring in your locale, and also assumes they were thorough to the ability of their machine, covered the school or park thoroughly, etc.... Not likely, but ... is possible.
mrwilburino
Member
Back in the mid-1970's, my ratio of silver dimes to quarters was 3.5 to 1. Not too bad, but as Tom stated, those BFOs that I was using back then were pretty anemic when it came to small targets. However, there was an interesting post on the CTX forum some weeks back about someone who managed to find what appears to be a virgin ball field in a small town somewhere and pulled a good deal of silver out of it. His silver dime to quarter ratio was pretty close to what I got all those years ago: http://www.findmall.com/read.php?86,2067647
Nowadays, hunting many of the same parks that I hunted back then, My silver dime to quarter ratio is 20 To 1. A lot of coils have passed over those areas in the last 40 years.
Nowadays, hunting many of the same parks that I hunted back then, My silver dime to quarter ratio is 20 To 1. A lot of coils have passed over those areas in the last 40 years.