Finding silver coins at inland sites is a great challenge. I also enjoy taking an old coin from the ground and wondering what the world was like when it was lost. Here’s some of the methods tthat have worked well for me.
1/ I always look for something that would cause silver to be lost rather than just hunting open ground. I focus on hills, seating areas around the shade of big trees, or sports areas. I also watch for tufted grass circles that indicate where a big tree has been removed.
2/ I try and scout the depth of the topsoil by looking at the depth and date of any pennies I find. This tells me how deep any silver would be lying.
3/ I use detectors that are good around iron. The Minelab Sovereign, Minelab CTX 3030 and Nokta Impact are some favorites. I especially like the Impact because it’s fast and reaches down into the iron range to give great targets separation. It also has great, clean audio.
4/ I also look for those areas which show signs of pre-1970’s activity. Dense bottle caps are a good sign. Where you have prime shade or other attractions–it’s a good idea to take a few of these caps out to see what’s underneath.
5/ I also try to “mix it up” using different sweep speeds, lengths and directions. In heavily hunted ground–always try working on the diagonal to bring up additional targets.
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