I have been super lucky lately when it comes to finding silver. My last few hunts have all netted silver coins or a silver ring. I was hoping that my luck would continue this past weekend when I did some metal detecting at an old picnic grounds and gathering area. This spot has been popular since the early 1960’s so you can imagine my excitement leading up to this past weekends hunt.

I started out detecting in a small strip of grass and then moved over by the creek and picnic tables. I didn’t find much but modern coins, but I suspect that the gravel and mulch that had been laid down made it nearly impossible to reach the deeper coins. The mulch layer was literally 5-6 inches thick in most places around the sitting area and picnic tables.

I then switched to hoping for recently dropped jewelry items, but again, the area was clean except a few clad coins here and there.

I gave it the old college try by detecting all of the areas that had the possibility of old coins, but after about 5 hours all I had to show for my efforts was common junk, several modern coins and a sinking feeling that I was about to get skunked on silver coins at a spot that ‘Should” hold several silvers. I was wondering if someone had beaten me to the punch, or if all of the modern improvements had put the silver coins there too deep for my detector to reach. All I really knew for sure was that I felt disappointed that I was about to be skunked.

The sun was going down so I decided to detect around a large over hanging tree.  About 3 minutes later I got that sweet sound of silver on my AT Pro and I knew that it could be a quarter based on the 85-87 ID numbers.

I dug down 4 or 5 inches and that’s when I saw the reeded edge of a silver coin! A 1961 Washington quarter. That’s only the second silver Washington quarter I’ve ever found and believe me I was excited to see silver in the plug. It saved me from getting skunked, and sometimes all it takes is One Good Find to save the day!

Before this hunt I had high hopes for finding silver in this particular area and had told the guys in the chat room that I was dedicating this hunt to the memory of Charles Garrett.

On this dedicated hunt, the Garrett AT Pro did what it was designed to do and that is a testament to the quality of Garrett Metal Detectors.

– Rest In Peace Dr. Charles Garrett, this one’s for you.

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