Today marked my ninth straight hunt of pulling at least one silver coin.\u00a0 A far cry from my record of 52 straight, but we’ll take it.\u00a0 Silver coins are still hard to find, and every one is a gift, especially as me and my competition continue to hunt the area out.<\/p>\n
On the subject of stats, economists like to look at data, and look for explanations of that data.\u00a0 That can even have relevance to metal detecting.\u00a0 For example, my current site has given up 11 silver coins: 5 quarters, 5 dimes, and 1 war nickel.\u00a0 This ratio is consistent with modern change (and while I don’t track pennies cause they ain’t silver, the quantity I am finding is consistent with modern change as well).<\/p>\n
Normally, at a silver site, the ratio of dimes to quarters will range from 3:1 (good), to 10:1 (normal), or even worse.\u00a0 These ratios, skewed well off the modern change ratio, suggest the site was hunted, especially in the 80s (cause quarters are easier to find than dimes). The worse the ratio, the harder it has been hunted.<\/p>\n
Judging how hard a site has been hunted is important.\u00a0 You don’t want to waste your time at a hard-hunted site while the competition is picking low-hanging fruit elsewhere; you need to be the one picking that low-hanging fruit, and come back to the hard-hunted site later.<\/p>\n
But this one is hard.\u00a0 The ratio suggests that it has not been hunted (and given that it is a permission site, that is possible).\u00a0 OTOH, the quantity suggests that it may have been (its not alot of quantity per square area).\u00a0 OTOH, the research suggests the site may have had a low density usage during the silver era, meaning the quantity and ratio of finds are consistent with a low usage, never been hunted site.\u00a0 OTOH, the mineralization is god-awful; I can’t get an auto rec above 19, and even some of the quarters have iffy signals, suggesting many deep dimes may be being masked by mineralization, skewing the data!<\/p>\n
Are you kidding me?\u00a0 These are the things an economist thinks about while metal detecting, all in the name of optimization.\u00a0 My guess is that there are not many economists who metal detect.\u00a0 My guess is that there are even less that blog.\u00a0 And, after that, even fewer readers. You (if you are not a searchbot), are likely unique.\u00a0 Cheers!<\/p>\n
But, the question remains, why hunt such as site?\u00a0 Cause its damn old, and there could be a big one here, but with the crappy dirt, it may be tough to hear it.\u00a0 The hope is it has not been detected before (giving you a shot at a shallow big one), but the evidence is inconclusive.\u00a0 At least the Dismal Science gives you a way to think about the problem, and that’s what I’m trying to do.\u00a0 Cut and run, or press on?\u00a0 Tough call.<\/p>\n
Today marked my ninth straight hunt of pulling at least one silver coin.\u00a0 A far cry from my record of 52 straight, but we’ll take it.\u00a0 Silver coins are still hard to find, and every one is a gift, especially … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.puzzlemaze.org\/df\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/050912.jpg\" "\\"050912\\"")
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