I found 60,000 silver coins today, on paper anyway..Hint, better keep your day job

I put this piece together more for gee wiz and perhaps shed some light on the realities of coin hunting using a metal detector. Especially what one could/should expect to be maybe be able to dig in a one hour time period of detecting quantity wise (any kind of target). There are some things assumed, some of which I feel are very conservative. I also calculated monetary value using one scenario assumed with some prize find value added in. I think folks can see after reading/studying this information, we as detectorist had BETTER keep our day jobs!!!

This data is an exploration/possible detailing of finding 60,000 silver coins in the wild over a span of 30 years. (one person)

After a little more research I feel 2 five gallon pails of silver mainly quarters and dimes found in the wild would be me more than 60,000 coins. But in the interest of this grand discussion and realizing some silver dollars and halves would be found to increase the overall volume in the pails we will assume 30,000 silver coins per 5 gallon pail. So the total silver haul for 2 pails (5 gallon liquid volume size) =60,000 silver coins.

Alright would it be fair to assume hunting for 9 months (270 days) for 8 hours a day be possible per year? This allowing for 90 days of non detecting for other obligations, illness, inclement weather, foilage/tall grass per year. In assuming this then:

270 days times 8 hours a day per calendar year equals 2160 hours. And repeating this for 30 years(periods) would be 2,160 times 30years = 64,800 hours total detection time. This 64,800 hours is site coil time (in the field), not travel time.

Alright so 60,000 total silver coins. Would a 6 to 1 copper to silver coin found be reasonable in the field?? I think this is reasonable, so we'll use it. So with the 6 to 1 ratio, that would mean 60,000 times 6 = 360,000 total copper coin finds.

What about silver coin to clad quarter/dime find ratio??? Would a 3 to 1 ratio, meaning 3 clad dimes or a mix, of quarters for every silver coin found. I think this is conservative, but again we will assume. So a 3 to 1 ratio would mean 3 times 60,000 = 180,000 clad dimes and or quarters found.

What about junk targets. Would it be fair to expect maybe one junk target (non coin, could be ring/nickel,gold jewelry etc.) for every 15 silver coins detected??? I think this is again conservative, but will assume. So 60,000 silver coins found with a 1 in 15 junk find rate would mean 60,000 silver coins divided by 15 = 4000 junk targets dug.

Now let's see what we have:

60,000 silver coins dug
360,000 copper coins dug
180,000 clad dimes and quarters dug
4,000 junk targets dug

Add these all together comes to 604,000 items dug in a total period of 64,800 hours.

So now we have the number and we know the hours detecting time applied. So 604,000 items divided by 64,800 = 9.32 items an hour on average dug.
Now for argument sake lets use 9 targets an hour. So how long does it take to---- after the target is located to pinpoint, dig, find in the dirt, retreive, and cover hole properly. Is 3 minutes (on average) a target a conservative number?? I think so. So 9 targets x 3 minutes per target would = 27 minutes. So 27 minutes out of every hour detected(looking for coins) is spent pinpointing/retrieving coin/junk/clad/copper and covering hole. So this means for every hour only 60 minutes in an hour - 27 minutes for target retrieval leaves 33 minutes per hour to detect(located coins). So this would suggest on average the person would have to actually find/locate 9 supposed worthy targets in the 33 remaining minutes left. Or said another way find a worthy target every 3 minutes and 39 seconds. If we use the true 9.32 items an hour this figure changes to only 32 minutes out of every hour for discovery or a worthy target found every 3 minutes and 26 seconds.

And just think leaving all conditions above intact and just by changing the detecting time from 270 days 8 hours days a per calendar year over a 30 year period to 200 detecting days out of a calendar year 8 hours a day for 30 years the following is noted. The average hourly find rate moves from 9.32 finds per hour to (200 times 8= 1600 times 30 = 48,000 hours, 604,000 items divided by 48,000 hours =) to 12.58 finds per hour. And allowing 3 minutes to pinpoint/dig/retrieve/ and cover per hole would be 37 minutes 44 seconds per hour. And leaving 22 minutes 16 seconds for a person to locate/find 12.58 worthy finds or one find every 1 minute 46 seconds.

Or if we leave everything assumed originally, and use the 270 days 8 hours a day per calendar year for 30 years and drop the pinpoint/dig/retrieval/hole cover time to 2 minutes average per target dug. The following happens.
9.32 items per hour would take 18 minutes 38.4 seconds per hour for pinpointing/retrieval/dig/hole covering. And leave 41 minutes and 21.6 seconds to locate 9.32 targets or 1 target every 4 minutes and 26 seconds per hour every hour detected.

Or if we leave all assumptions intact but double the junk find rate from 1 in 15 to 2 in 15 and double the clad dime/quarter rate instead of 3 to 1 but instead 6 to 1, this is the result. 8000 junk targets dug and 360,000 clad dimes/quarters dug total, so the total coins/junk targets dug moves from 604,000 to 788,000. And then with the 64,800 hours detecting time, this would equate to 12.16 finds per hour, and using 3 minutes to pinpoint, dig/retrieve/cover hole for 12.16 targets would be 36 minutes 29 seconds leaving 23 minutes 31 seconds to locate 12.16 finds, or one find every 1 minute 56 seconds per hour of detecting time on average.

Or if we leave all original assumptions in place except assume 360 days of detecting per calender year, 8 hours a day for 30 years and use the 2 in 15 junk find rate and 6 to 1 clad dime/quarter to silver coin rate this is the result.
360 x 8 x 30= 86,400 hours detecting time. So 788,000 finds divided by 86,400 = 9.1 finds per hour. And allowing for 3 minutes to pinpoint/dig/retrieve/cover holes for 9.1 finds is 27 minutes 18 seconds, leaving 32 minutes 42 seconds to locate 9.1 finds or one find on average every 3 minutes and 35 seconds.

One last scenario, suppose 20 hours detecting a week for every week over an entire 30 year period and assuming a person has 1 in 15 junk find rate, and they have the same find rate for a silver dime/quarter as they do a clad dime/quarter, and dig 1 copper for every silver coin. So 20 hours x 52 weeks x 30 years = 31,200 total detecting hours. And we would have 60,000 silver coin, 60,000 clad coins, 60,000 copper coins and 4000 junk targets. So 184,000 finds total. So 184,000 divided by 31,200 hours = 5.89 finds per hour. Assuming 3 minutes on average for pinpointing/ digging/retreival/covering hole, 5.89 finds would take 17 minutes 40 seconds, leaving 42 minutes 20 seconds to locate 5.89 finds or one find every 7 minutes and 11 seconds. (IMO least plausible scenario I've listed)


And remember there is no time allotted for breaks i.e rest room or just plain rest or lunch/snacks/detector breakdown, or threatening weather if you are at a site detecting and have to stop..

Let's talk value ---First face value. And using the first set of assumptions/parameters in this piece. Would it be conservative to say for every 100 dimes found, 6 quarters were found. We'll use this in our computation. So 240,000 silver and clad dimes and quarters found total. So 240,000 divided by 1.06 = 226, 415 dimes, and the remaing 13, 585 would be quarters.

13,585 quarters times $.25 = $3396
226,415 dimes times $.10 = $22,641
360,000 copper coins times $.01= $3,600

So the total face value is $29,637 of all dug coins.

What about silver scrap value. There were some folks paying 20 times face value for silver coins, this a few months ago. If we use this 20 times face value dimes= $2.00, and quarters = $5.00 a piece.

So 60,000 silver quarters and dimes with 6 quarters for every 100 dimes in the pails.
This equates to 3,397 silver quarters and 56,603 silver dimes.
So 3,397 times $5 = $ 16,985 scrap quarter value
And 56,603 times $2 = $113,206 scrap dime value

So silver scrap total value is $ 130,191

So taking the silver away from the total coin finds, we need to calculate just clad dime and quarters found face value..
So 180,000 clad dimes and quarters dug, again using the 6 quarters for every 100 dimes. 180,000 divided by 1.06= 169,811 clad dimes with the remaining 10,189 being clad quarters
.
So 10,189 times $.25 = $2,547
And 169,811 times $.10 = $16,981
Adding the 2 together comes to $19,528 this the total face value of all clad quarters/dimes dug.

So now we can add the totals together for a realistic value of all coins dug.

$19,528 for the clad quarters/dimes
$130,191 for the silver coin scrap price
$3,600 for the copper coins dug

This makes for a real total value of $153, 319 for all coins dug.

If we divide the total value by the total hours inccured it gives us the hourly rate achieved from a $$$ aspect. So
$153,319 divided by 64,800 hours = a shade over $2.36 hour

Let's assume the person digging the 60,000 silver coins was able to find 10 prize finds. One valued at $10.000, 2 at $7,500, 3 at $5000, 1 at $2,500, 1 at 1,000, and 2 at $500. This would be a total prize find value of $44,500.
Adding this to the total above $153,319 would come to $197,819 total value. So again adding in the prize find value doing the math equates to a shade over $3.05 an hour for 64,800 hours.
And 64,800 hours is in case you forgot==== " 8 hours a day for 270 days of a year for 30 years".


Summary:
The assumptions/presumptions made in this 2 five gallon pails of silver coins dug from a detecting standpoint are very conservative. A 1 in 15 junk target find rate is very conservative. A 3 to 1 clad dime/ quarter to silver coin again very conservative. I erred on the low side for what is likely to be experienced in the field IMO. I even rounded the find rate per hour down from 9.32 to 9 in one scenario.

I feel the 2 or 3 minutes average per target used (for pinpointing/digging/retrieval/hole covering in calculations is conservative, certainly not high or exaggerated imo.

And this data assumes a person has kept their silver coins, not sold say years ago when the price of silver/cost of living was lower.
Now remember this face/scrap value data doesn't consider the silver dollars/halves that may be found. Even the 2 and 3 cent pieces that may be found. . All this combined would drive the total value of the coins dug upwards. And the silver jewelry/gold jewelry and nickels found would even add to the total value.

Also I don't think we as detectorist realize how much time we spend in the field doing something other than swinging or moving our coil over the ground i.e digging, using pin pointer, retrieving finds and covering holes.

The next time you're out you may want to make a conscious effort to track and see just how much time is really coil swinging vs chasing targets in the ground out of every hour in the field.

Cheers everyone and happy detecting!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2015 02:37AM by tnsharpshooter.

Is Kemper and TNSS one and the same??

Wow, over 2 US dollars per hour isn't bad. This topic of the earning rate of detectorists here in the U.K has come up before, on the U.K forum I use. As you know, we mainly detect ploughed (plowed) farmland, in order to find the older items. A common figure was about 25 pence per hour, = 40 US cents. And it's all a bit theoretical, as most people don't sell much, we like to keep it for display / personal enjoyment etc.
I'm amazed by your 1 in 15 junk rate. In our quest for 'old things', we arrived at (in a forum discussion) a figure of one decent target in 30 as a typical rate. I've certainly gone out for several hours, dug 80 targets, and had nothing of any merit, on numerous occasions. Woodland would be the worst, I'm sure it's possible to dig 200 targets and get nothing but hunting debris (shotgun cartridge bases, airgun pellets, etc) and modern trash.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2015 10:26PM by Pimento.

Dude, you may get REALLY embarassed. The author that everyone knows came on the California Kinzli forum and did like you...said theres no way a guy could find (in this case 650)silvers in a year...then he used math and averages. Well that guy, Capt.Fi, does find those numbers, we have all seen his posts through the years. Youve been detecting 5 years?Cmon man, dont know why this gentleman has become your hobby. Chill.

Their is a lot of great information there. Thanks David. I work 6 days a week and am lucky to get out one to two days a week for 3 to 4 hours. I usually come home with a handful of modern coins and maybe 2 to 5 older coins. Usually old pennies. I'm lucky to find a silver coin once a week or even a month. So I personally will be keeping my day job. Of corse my day job is buying and selling coins and jewelry. I hunt because it relaxes me and the not knowing what I will dig up next is the fun part for me.

Deathray,
Assuming a person wasn't lucky enough to be behind 3 crashed Brinks trucks in say 1960. And realizing a person does have to dig the coins, and yes sometimes we find more than 1 coin in a hole. Just how long does it take for example to dig 6 holes to retrieve six 6" deep coins and properly cover the holes???? And remember most folks are trying to be careful and not damage the coins. I think it's longer than some may think!!

And this sorta ties into my comments on this forum on why the Minelabs find more silver. More productive holes, less wasted time, hence more actual searching.
So in a positive light the minelabs win on both ends of the spectrum ,,,,



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2015 11:24PM by tnsharpshooter.

deathray Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dude, you may get REALLY embarassed. The author
> that everyone knows came on the California Kinzli
> forum and did like you...said theres no way a guy
> could find (in this case 650)silvers in a
> year...then he used math and averages. Well that
> guy, Capt.Fi, does find those numbers, we have all
> seen his posts through the years. Youve been
> detecting 5 years?Cmon man, dont know why this
> gentleman has become your hobby. Chill.


Just wait till I'm home from vacation.
His berated logic is amazing just like his tests for favored machines.
I'm not cutting my summer short because of his rants.
Proof will be shown in detail in due time.

All I know is if Silver Master shows proof of his finds, somebody is gonna have a whole lot of egg on his face.....eat a lot of crow.... eat some humble pie.... well, you get the idea

cadman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> All I know is if Silver Master shows proof of his
> finds, somebody is gonna have a whole lot of egg
> on his face.....eat a lot of crow.... eat some
> humble pie.... well, you get the idea X)

I agree, and hope that does happen. I think tnss is just really jealous though.

Maybe he is just a much better detectorist than you. Dude, my first year back detecting (2000)I found close to 180 silver coins and a double eagle. Wether this gentleman has or has not found bucketloads doesnt really matter ,does it? Basically calling him a liar, then writing a thesis on it, I find odd.

Hebrews 12:15 sums this whole thing up pretty well and I will use this as an example of what can happen when you let it consume you. The writer refers to it as the "root of bitterness". It actually reads "lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled".

You've let this whole thing get to you so bad, and you have been spending way too much time dwelling and thinking on it. You've let a root of bitterness get grounded and it has taken over the whole system of your being. You're gonna have to take care of that issue before it consumes you. Bitterness is a reference to a poison...if you keep letting this thing rock on, you are going to be consumed with it, if you haven't been already.

tnsharpshooter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I put this piece together more for gee wiz and
> perhaps shed some light on the realities of coin
> hunting using a metal detector. Especially what
> one could/should expect to be maybe be able to dig
> in a one hour time period of detecting quantity
> wise (any kind of target). There are some things
> assumed, some of which I feel are very
> conservative. I also calculated monetary value
> using one scenario assumed with some prize find
> value added in. I think folks can see after
> reading/studying this information, we as
> detectorist had BETTER keep our day jobs!!!
>
> This data is an exploration/possible detailing of
> finding 60,000 silver coins in the wild over a
> span of 30 years. (one person)
>
> After a little more research I feel 2 five gallon
> pails of silver mainly quarters and dimes found in
> the wild would be me more than 60,000 coins. But
> in the interest of this grand discussion and
> realizing some silver dollars and halves would be
> found to increase the overall volume in the pails
> we will assume 30,000 silver coins per 5 gallon
> pail. So the total silver haul for 2 pails (5
> gallon liquid volume size) =60,000 silver coins.
>
> Alright would it be fair to assume hunting for 9
> months (270 days) for 8 hours a day be possible
> per year? This allowing for 90 days of non
> detecting for other obligations, illness,
> inclement weather, foilage/tall grass per year.
> In assuming this then:
>
> 270 days times 8 hours a day per calendar year
> equals 2160 hours. And repeating this for 30
> years(periods) would be 2,160 times 30years =
> 64,800 hours total detection time. This 64,800
> hours is site coil time (in the field), not travel
> time.
>
> Alright so 60,000 total silver coins. Would a 6
> to 1 copper to silver coin found be reasonable in
> the field?? I think this is reasonable, so we'll
> use it. So with the 6 to 1 ratio, that would mean
> 60,000 times 6 = 360,000 total copper coin finds.
>
> What about silver coin to clad quarter/dime find
> ratio??? Would a 3 to 1 ratio, meaning 3 clad
> dimes or a mix, of quarters for every silver coin
> found. I think this is conservative, but again we
> will assume. So a 3 to 1 ratio would mean 3 times
> 60,000 = 180,000 clad dimes and or quarters
> found.
>
> What about junk targets. Would it be fair to
> expect maybe one junk target (non coin, could be
> ring/nickel,gold jewelry etc.) for every 15 silver
> coins detected??? I think this is again
> conservative, but will assume. So 60,000 silver
> coins found with a 1 in 15 junk find rate would
> mean 60,000 silver coins divided by 15 = 4000 junk
> targets dug.
>
> Now let's see what we have:
>
> 60,000 silver coins dug
> 360,000 copper coins dug
> 180,000 clad dimes and quarters dug
> 4,000 junk targets dug
>
> Add these all together comes to 604,000 items dug
> in a total period of 64,800 hours.
>
> So now we have the number and we know the hours
> detecting time applied. So 604,000 items divided
> by 64,800 = 9.32 items an hour on average dug.
> Now for argument sake lets use 9 targets an hour.
> So how long does it take to---- after the target
> is located to pinpoint, dig, find in the dirt,
> retreive, and cover hole properly. Is 3 minutes
> (on average) a target a conservative number?? I
> think so. So 9 targets x 3 minutes per target
> would = 27 minutes. So 27 minutes out of every
> hour detected(looking for coins) is spent
> pinpointing/retrieving coin/junk/clad/copper and
> covering hole. So this means for every hour only
> 60 minutes in an hour - 27 minutes for target
> retrieval leaves 33 minutes per hour to
> detect(located coins). So this would suggest on
> average the person would have to actually
> find/locate 9 supposed worthy targets in the 33
> remaining minutes left. Or said another way find
> a worthy target every 3 minutes and 39 seconds.
> If we use the true 9.32 items an hour this figure
> changes to only 32 minutes out of every hour for
> discovery or a worthy target found every 3 minutes
> and 26 seconds.
>
> And just think leaving all conditions above intact
> and just by changing the detecting time from 270
> days 8 hours days a per calendar year over a 30
> year period to 200 detecting days out of a
> calendar year 8 hours a day for 30 years the
> following is noted. The average hourly find rate
> moves from 9.32 finds per hour to (200 times 8=
> 1600 times 30 = 48,000 hours, 604,000 items
> divided by 48,000 hours =) to 12.58 finds per
> hour. And allowing 3 minutes to
> pinpoint/dig/retrieve/ and cover per hole would be
> 37 minutes 44 seconds per hour. And leaving 22
> minutes 16 seconds for a person to locate/find
> 12.58 worthy finds or one find every 1 minute 46
> seconds.
>
> Or if we leave everything assumed originally, and
> use the 270 days 8 hours a day per calendar year
> for 30 years and drop the
> pinpoint/dig/retrieval/hole cover time to 2
> minutes average per target dug. The following
> happens.
> 9.32 items per hour would take 18 minutes 38.4
> seconds per hour for
> pinpointing/retrieval/dig/hole covering. And
> leave 41 minutes and 21.6 seconds to locate 9.32
> targets or 1 target every 4 minutes and 26 seconds
> per hour every hour detected.
>
> Or if we leave all assumptions intact but double
> the junk find rate from 1 in 15 to 2 in 15 and
> double the clad dime/quarter rate instead of 3 to
> 1 but instead 6 to 1, this is the result. 8000
> junk targets dug and 360,000 clad dimes/quarters
> dug total, so the total coins/junk targets dug
> moves from 604,000 to 788,000. And then with the
> 64,800 hours detecting time, this would equate to
> 12.16 finds per hour, and using 3 minutes to
> pinpoint, dig/retrieve/cover hole for 12.16
> targets would be 36 minutes 29 seconds leaving 23
> minutes 31 seconds to locate 12.16 finds, or one
> find every 1 minute 56 seconds per hour of
> detecting time on average.
>
> Or if we leave all original assumptions in place
> except assume 360 days of detecting per calender
> year, 8 hours a day for 30 years and use the 2 in
> 15 junk find rate and 6 to 1 clad dime/quarter to
> silver coin rate this is the result.
> 360 x 8 x 30= 86,400 hours detecting time. So
> 788,000 finds divided by 86,400 = 9.1 finds per
> hour. And allowing for 3 minutes to
> pinpoint/dig/retrieve/cover holes for 9.1 finds is
> 27 minutes 18 seconds, leaving 32 minutes 42
> seconds to locate 9.1 finds or one find on average
> every 3 minutes and 35 seconds.
>
> One last scenario, suppose 20 hours detecting a
> week for every week over an entire 30 year period
> and assuming a person has 1 in 15 junk find rate,
> and they have the same find rate for a silver
> dime/quarter as they do a clad dime/quarter, and
> dig 1 copper for every silver coin. So 20 hours
> x 52 weeks x 30 years = 31,200 total detecting
> hours. And we would have 60,000 silver coin,
> 60,000 clad coins, 60,000 copper coins and 4000
> junk targets. So 184,000 finds total. So 184,000
> divided by 31,200 hours = 5.89 finds per hour.
> Assuming 3 minutes on average for pinpointing/
> digging/retreival/covering hole, 5.89 finds would
> take 17 minutes 40 seconds, leaving 42 minutes 20
> seconds to locate 5.89 finds or one find every 7
> minutes and 11 seconds. (IMO least plausible
> scenario I've listed)
>
>
> And remember there is no time allotted for breaks
> i.e rest room or just plain rest or
> lunch/snacks/detector breakdown, or threatening
> weather if you are at a site detecting and have to
> stop..
>
> Let's talk value ---First face value. And using
> the first set of assumptions/parameters in this
> piece. Would it be conservative to say for every
> 100 dimes found, 6 quarters were found. We'll use
> this in our computation. So 240,000 silver and
> clad dimes and quarters found total. So 240,000
> divided by 1.06 = 226, 415 dimes, and the remaing
> 13, 585 would be quarters.
>
> 13,585 quarters times $.25 = $3396
> 226,415 dimes times $.10 = $22,641
> 360,000 copper coins times $.01= $3,600
>
> So the total face value is $29,637 of all dug
> coins.
>
> What about silver scrap value. There were some
> folks paying 20 times face value for silver coins,
> this a few months ago. If we use this 20 times
> face value dimes= $2.00, and quarters = $5.00 a
> piece.
>
> So 60,000 silver quarters and dimes with 6
> quarters for every 100 dimes in the pails.
> This equates to 3,397 silver quarters and 56,603
> silver dimes.
> So 3,397 times $5 = $ 16,985 scrap quarter value
> And 56,603 times $2 = $113,206 scrap dime value
>
> So silver scrap total value is $ 130,191
>
> So taking the silver away from the total coin
> finds, we need to calculate just clad dime and
> quarters found face value..
> So 180,000 clad dimes and quarters dug, again
> using the 6 quarters for every 100 dimes. 180,000
> divided by 1.06= 169,811 clad dimes with the
> remaining 10,189 being clad quarters
> .
> So 10,189 times $.25 = $2,547
> And 169,811 times $.10 = $16,981
> Adding the 2 together comes to $19,528 this the
> total face value of all clad quarters/dimes dug.
>
> So now we can add the totals together for a
> realistic value of all coins dug.
>
> $19,528 for the clad quarters/dimes
> $130,191 for the silver coin scrap price
> $3,600 for the copper coins dug
>
> This makes for a real total value of $153, 319 for
> all coins dug.
>
> If we divide the total value by the total hours
> inccured it gives us the hourly rate achieved from
> a $$$ aspect. So
> $153,319 divided by 64,800 hours = a shade over
> $2.36 hour
>
> Let's assume the person digging the 60,000 silver
> coins was able to find 10 prize finds. One valued
> at $10.000, 2 at $7,500, 3 at $5000, 1 at $2,500,
> 1 at 1,000, and 2 at $500. This would be a total
> prize find value of $34,500.
> Adding this to the total above $153,319 would come
> to $187,819 total value. So again adding in the
> prize find value doing the math equates to a shade
> over $2.89 an hour for 64,800 hours.
> And 64,800 hours is in case you forgot==== " 8
> hours a day for 270 days of a year for 30 years".
>
>
> Summary:
> The assumptions/presumptions made in this 2 five
> gallon pails of silver coins dug from a detecting
> standpoint are very conservative. A 1 in 15 junk
> target find rate is very conservative. A 3 to 1
> clad dime/ quarter to silver coin again very
> conservative. I erred on the low side for what is
> likely to be experienced in the field IMO. I even
> rounded the find rate per hour down from 9.32 to 9
> in one scenario.
>
> I feel the 2 or 3 minutes average per target used
> (for pinpointing/digging/retrieval/hole covering
> in calculations is conservative, certainly not
> high or exaggerated imo.
>
> And this data assumes a person has kept their
> silver coins, not sold say years ago when the
> price of silver/cost of living was lower.
> Now remember this face/scrap value data doesn't
> consider the silver dollars/halves that may be
> found. Even the 2 and 3 cent pieces that may be
> found. . All this combined would drive the total
> value of the coins dug upwards. And the silver
> jewelry/gold jewelry and nickels found would even
> add to the total value.
>
> Also I don't think we as detectorist realize how
> much time we spend in the field doing something
> other than swinging or moving our coil over the
> ground i.e digging, using pin pointer, retrieving
> finds and covering holes.
>
> The next time you're out you may want to make a
> conscious effort to track and see just how much
> time is really coil swinging vs chasing targets in
> the ground out of every hour in the field.
>
> Cheers everyone and happy detecting!!!

Seems logical that the numbers are subject to change depending on locations. To be honest the post went a little over my head.

A five gallon container is equal to 3,785,411.784 mm^3

A quarter has a volume of 811.6 mm^3
A dime has a volume of 339.7 mm^3

The average mix of quarters and dimes would be 575.65 mm^3

The number of coins in one gallon bucket is then, 3,785,411.784 / 575.65 = 6,575 coins to the briim

6,000 would be closer if not filled to the top.

Two containers full would be (obviously) 12,000 coins

Over 30 years of hunting that would be 400 coins per year.

If you hunt once per week for 5 hours per hunt that would be 260 hours per year hunting.

That would be an average of 1 silver coin every 1.5 hours

Assuming that the majority of the finds were 30 years ago when silver was more plentiful the early years may have seen 1 silver coin per 30 mins of hunting and that dwindle down to 2.5 hours of hunt per coin a decade later, still the average is 1.5 hours for each recovery.

Seems reasonable to me.

Johnnyanglo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The number of coins in one gallon bucket is then,
> 3,785,411.784 / 575.65 = 6,575 coins to the briim
>

Not unless you melt the coins first.
You didn't account for void space. Probably around 25% to 35% of total volume, depending on stacking.

mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2015 06:11AM by Mike in CO.

Johnnyanglo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The number of coins in one gallon bucket is then,
> 3,785,411.784 / 575.65 = 6,575 coins to the briim
>
> Seems reasonable to me.

Not unless you melt the coins first.
You didn't account for void space. Probably around 25% to 35% of total volume, depending on stacking.

Which actually helps the rest of your argument/conclusion...assuming your other numbers are correct.

mike

(darned edit limit.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2015 06:45AM by Mike in CO.

TNSS
I usually like reading your post but please respectably drop it. I think we need a new detector to drool over. Whether he did or didn't who cares and why would you go to that much trouble and like someone else said be consumed over this. Maybe he was being sarcastic maybe he was telling a "fish story" maybe he did maybe he didn't. But man should we request that you prove every find you've ever made? I don't think so.

Brian

What's the weight of each 5 gallon bucket filled with US silver coins?.....just curious.

I've just calculated 130 Kg; 290 pounds for one 5 US gallons bucket.

Another thread i should avoid...

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Keith Southern Wrote:
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> Another thread i should avoid...
>
> Keith


Yes---there have been several of those here lately.----Whatever happened to the "kind & gentle" Forum that we once knew/enjoyed???

Thanks Pimento for the weight calc.

Keith Southern Wrote:
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> Another thread i should avoid...
>
> Keith


Yes...wish I could keep my mouth shut sometimes.

If you spent the time detecting that you did writing this article probablywould have found a couple silver coins

Not unless you melt the coins first. You didn't account for void space.

Nope, just going for best case for max coins. But you are correct, there would be voids.

A dime weighs 2.268 grams and a quarter 5.670 grams.

Assuming the air space in a 5-gallon container allows less than 6,000 mixed coins, then we'd have perhaps 5,500 mixed coins X average quarter/dime weight of 3.969 grams = 21,830 grams

21,830 grams of coins = 48 pounds per bucket

Again, seems reasonable.

You're a bit light, there, Johnny. A 5 US gallon ( = 5 x 3.8 litres) container full of water would weigh 19Kg / 42 pounds. And silver coins are going to be about 8 times more dense.

A neat story.

"In remembrance of those who lost their lives and out of compassion
for their families and for those who worked hard to help in the
aftermath of 9/11, we at Emerson School decided to celebrate our local
heroes in Plainfield who volunteer as Rescue Squad members. We called
our effort, “Pennies to the Rescue”. The children, teachers and
parents collected pennies from September 8 – 11, 2003. During our
Harambee meeting on September 11, 2003, each class poured their
pennies into a five gallon water jar. We nearly filled the jar. It
was spectacular! Each student had to estimate the number of pennies
collected. The third grade classes (who were studying Things That
Come in Groups) were in charge of sorting, counting and wrapping the
pennies. They did a tremendous job. A fifth grade student had the
closest estimate of 35,000 pennies. The actual count was 30,294
pennies."

I'm sure I missed it since I am not here to do CSI on every post. But where did the 5 gallon bucket size come into play? I thought he said 3 buckets. Buckets come in all shapes and sizes. Did he actually say it was three 5 gallon buckets or was it just 3 buckets? Most of the ones you get at hardware stores and such are 3 gallon. I used 3 gallon sizes the most when I got into gold prospecting. Maybe he did say 5 gallon though.

This thread is silly. don't you Think?

Daniel Tn Wrote:
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> I'm sure I missed it since I am not here to do CSI
> on every post. But where did the 5 gallon bucket
> size come into play? I thought he said 3 buckets.
> Buckets come in all shapes and sizes. Did he
> actually say it was three 5 gallon buckets or was
> it just 3 buckets? Most of the ones you get at
> hardware stores and such are 3 gallon. I used 3
> gallon sizes the most when I got into gold
> prospecting. Maybe he did say 5 gallon though.


Daniel-----FWIW, he did state (2) five gallon buckets---working on a third one.

Hombre Wrote:
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> This thread is silly. don't you Think?


YES!!!!!!!!!!!!