First Silver

[Stainless Steel Rat]

I got a Discovery 3300 monday night I have been sweeping my front and back yard a lot and I had my MD on max sensitivity. I got a 56-64 reading at 8 inches. I found a 1917 mecury dime at about 7 inches in my front yard. It was pretty shinny but is very worn I was lucky to see the date and no way to even tell the mint mark. I also found a cast metal toy soldier. I am doing better in my yard than anywhere else so far.

[cchughs]

Great finds. Can I come over and play in your yard?

[Stainless Steel Rat]

I stayed with my yard mostly since I am still learning how to dig stuff up without messing up the grass. I am going to ask my nearest neighbors to hit their yards too. Do I offer to split all the stuff that I find?

[ECACE]

SSR,

Not sure about the spliting thing. Maybe state that you want to check in their yards to get better at it. Only mention splitting it if they bring it up first. As for fishing in the yard...my house was built in ~1946, in a nice older neighborhood. Lot's of families with kids have been in the yard. I have found over 150 coins in my yard alone! The best find was a 1943 merc dime at about 8". Absolutely beautiful condition. Man I love finding that silver.
One thing you can do to help your digging and returning the dirt skills, other than my MD, I carry with me a good digger, gardening mat (save those knee's), and a big Ziplock bag. I first dig the plug out as one piece about 3" round and 4" long. I check that under the coil to make sure it isn't in the plug. Then all the dirt I dig out of the hole goes into the Ziplock bag. If I think I might have missed the target when digging, I can always run the bag under the coil. Then once I get the target, I dump the bag back into the hole. That way you don't end up with a dirt ring around where you were digging. For shallow digs, you probably don't need to use the bag as it is probably in the plug. But like at my house, there were a lot of coins at 6"-7". Good Luck!

[TonyinCT]

Hi ECACE . Why not just use knee pads and a small towel for the loose dirt ? Seems to me like you're doing a lot of excess work just getting the dirt in a baggie.

[ECACE]

Tony,

I already had the gardening knee pad & worked so go that it has been xfered from gardening to fishing. As for the towel, you could use that, I often dig in rather wet ground, using a ziplock was cleaner & I didn't have to hear from the wife about using a towel. Either would work though.

[Stainless Steel Rat]

I went to a church that has a playground, I got over 1 dollar in chance inside the playground. I moved to a big old tree and got a 1954 quarter and few feet away I got a 1951 dime. I then moved to behind the building and near little tree that looked like it just got planted. Near the tree I found 5 wheaties all dated 1941-1947. I have only hit about 1/2 of the lot so far.