Wheat to silver ratio?

[marcomo]

In Michael Chaplan's excellent book, The Urban Treasure Hunter, he said the expected wheat to silver ratio when detecting is 6 to 1.

My wheat to silver ratio is way higher than that. I haven't actually counted, but I'd say it's at least twice that if not a little more.

Chaplan's book came out in the early 90's so maybe it's changed since then? Wheat pennies were in circulation many years after silver disappeared

I'm curious as to what ratio others are finding.

 

[reporter1]

I've been detecting about six months. Through today I've pulled 5,263 coins, of which about 35 were wheaties and six were silver (five dimes and one walking liberty half). I've found a total of five half dollars and three one-dollar coins as well as various foreign coins. I use an M6, which I love.

Obviously the 6 to 1 ration seems to hold true in my case. I purposely have just hunted a wide variety of areas, mostly turf in parks and schools, all of them pounded to death by previous detectorists. I haven't made a concerted effort to selectively go for silver--dig only deep sounds, don't dig anything less than 4", etc. That will change during the next six months and my guess is that while my wheat to silver ratio will probably stay the same, I hope I will find more of each as far as quantity goes.

I started with a Prizm II and used it for about one month before I got the M6. A few months ago I loaned my Prizm II to a friend and he's found five silver dimes with it. Incredibly, he's found fewer wheaties than silver--just four wheats to be exact. He works six days a week so he and I go out once a week--a total of 14 times since we started in March--so he's hauling in the silver compared to me as I probably spend at least three to four times as much time as he does detecting.

 

[dave5710]

That is an interesting question. I have dug 80 silver coins, but I sure I'm nowhere near 480 wheats. ( I thought I kept detailed records, until I read what the reporter wrote.) Wheats just aren't important to me. Where there are wheats the chance of finding silver is better, but some people cherry pick locations leaving pennies and just taking the higher value coins. You are going to get a wide range of answers to your question.
I also search bags of coins, 5000 count bags of pennies have produced between 10 and 36 wheats for me. 5000 count bags of dimes have produced between 1 and 8 silvers. 6 to 1 sounds pretty high to me, but it will depend on the location. Poor communities years ago should produce higher wheats ratios.
Everyones ratio will be different. reporter1 writes that he has found 5 halves one of which was silver. I have found nine halves, but six of mine have been silver. I have been fortunate to have dug a high percentge of Barber coins.
And the part about digging only deep targets. Of my 80 silvers I would say maybe 5 were deep. most are 3 to 5 inches, some just below the surface.

I hope you get some answers. I feel it just depends where you are able to hunt. But I thank God for every silver coin, and good hunt I have.

Take care, Dave

 

[marcomo]

But I thank God for every silver coin, and good hunt I have.

Amen to that, Dave.

We are dirt fishers. And the fish is just an excuse that let's us enjoy the act of fishing.

Although we enjoy it the most when we come home with a big net full of fish!

 

[Mark ( ohio )]

I've found 17 wheats so far this season and 1 silver (42 ) washington..

Mark ( ohio )

 

[jcooking]

4:1 for me this year. Been very luck for the silvers this year!

 

[gware12]

reporter , you have dug over 5000 coins in 6 months, thats great! how many hours a day do you average hunting?

 

[brocantes]

Sounds about right in my experience.

 

[marcomo]

OK, I must have had one too many of glasses of iced tea at dinner tonight so I'm still up and I actually counted.

And my wheat to silver ratio was lower than I originally thought: 7.06:1

I think I might have misjudged because at the time I originally posted this I was hitting an old site hard where I found about 25-30 wheaties, mostly in the teens and 20's. Also a couple Buffs, Indians, a Liberty Nickel and various other interesting old stuff - but no silver.

 

[Nailbender]

I'm new to MDing but I would think where you hunt would have allot to do with ratio. I hunt the parks in my area (small towns) and a few old homesteads and my ratio has to be around 100:1 or more. I haven't counted my clad but I have a pretty big pile but it only includes 3 wheat's, 1 merc and a Morgan dollar. I would be happy with that ratio if I would find another dollar once in a while. Like I said I'm new, I'm swinging an M6 and pretty much dig every solid hit.

 

[ohio fred]

worse here

 

[Critterhunter]

You are forgetting a very important variable in your "wheat to silver ratio". That's the fact that some guys cherry pick the silver and avoid the pennies. I do that some times at sites where I have little time to hunt and will not be able to go back due to construction or risk of getting kicked out, even if the site has been empty for years. At some places with various soil conditions the modern pennies have sunk down quickly and mixed with the wheats. Often this is due to the top soil being really fine material but the lower layers being a heavier clay. This tends to allow the new stuff to sink fast and sort'a "catch up" with the older coins that are now sinking slower at lower levels. When this happens I get sick real quick of digging deep modern pennies or even clads, and that's when I'll start to cherry pick a new spot. Doesn't mean I won't go back later and dig the signals that aren't as choice.

What I'm saying is that a lot of guys cherry pick silver and will leave the wheats. I have several sites where I've only dug wheaties, both deep and shallow. The silver should be there but it's been picked off by others first.

 

[ixlr8]

What about "trash to gold ratio" as in rings! One time me and a buddy searched for jewelry in a park for two days in a row, about 5 hours each day. we found 2 small gold rings and 1 St.Christopher pendant also gold, We also kept every "trash" target. With a total of 327 pieces of the stuff! which gave us a ratio of
110-1 approx. Trash to gold. I hope to improve on that number as I get better with my detector (DFX).

Steve

 

[marcomo]

I'm new to MDing but I would think where you hunt would have allot to do with ratio. I hunt the parks in my area (small towns) and a few old homesteads and my ratio has to be around 100:1 or more. I haven't counted my clad but I have a pretty big pile but it only includes 3 wheat's, 1 merc and a Morgan dollar. I would be happy with that ratio if I would find another dollar once in a while. Like I said I'm new, I'm swinging an M6 and pretty much dig every solid hit.

Actually that would be a 3:2 or you could say a 1.5:1 ratio because you found 3 wheats and 2 silvers.

What you're talking about is clad to silver and you're right, where you hunt would make a huge difference.

You have to consider that virtually no circulating silver has been dropped for over 40 years.