What about the grass???

[beachguy777]

No I don't mean canibus sativa, although I guess you might find a gold chain or two looking over a plot from some X-cultivator that's now in jail or something, but what about the good old neighborhood park or front lawn or the lawn in front of the Hayatt Regency Hotel, (just kidding) (they'd probably shoot you on site), but what about diggin' a few plugs and carefully putting the plugs back. Are you still going to encounter the wrath of the park and rec guys? Just wondering about all that. Give me some feed back, baby!!!

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

I have done that in the parks and if you are low-profile and respectful it's usually no problem. As for front lawns and hotels, I think you'd be asking for grief. Unless you had permission. Which is not likley in the case of a hotel, where they pay for landscaping. Your best sources are still private property with permission, parks and schools, the woods, and the beaches.

 

[beachguy777]

Right on Mike!! I was just kidding about the hotels, especially the Hayatt Regency, but I suppose some of the O L D hotels in one of these half horse towns might yeald soomething, although I suppose you might still have to get permission even from them, because it's private property. Thanks for the tip on the grass thing. I think your right, it's kind of a matter of who, when where and how well you cover up the holes. Makes sense to me, but one last quickie question. What's the deal on the woods thing. Are you looking for relics or old stills or maybe old campsites.??? "Sounds interesting.

 

[beachguy777]

All right, let's spill some more beans here, at the risk of me overdoin' it as I ususally do. I kind of get on a roll and it's hard to stop. Since we're talking about different places other than the beach to detect, my three DREAM finds would be: Either find an old mason jar with old coins burried somewhere, find any gold coin, or be able to hunt on an old abandoned carnavel site. Wow, what a rush, Opps. One more: How about an old horse race track or maybe any old race track for that matter. Keep the cards and letter comin' I'd love to hear anyones ideas on this stuff.

 

[Rick(ND)]

When you talk about a old race track, it brings back some good memories from one I was at. A few of the guys here still find a few of the old tracks and hit them. Some are not that good as they only did a few races and not too many people to lose anything.
The one that was very good for me as now a golf course and there was a old school on the edge of it too.I used to work the school site and was told that the golf course was a old race track that used to have a ball feild in it too and back in the 20s it also was used for what was called payday where all the surounding towns would come for a weekend of games and fun.
I lived in this town for 3 or 4 years before I decided to make a pass with my detector accross it and only got some trash and some nails, so thought nothing more about it untill I seen a couple of kids out there one day with a real cheapie detector, so I had to stop and see if they were finding anything. They had got a dime with a lady on it the day before and a IH penny today, so I had to go home and get my detector. I started hitting coins right away and did well. I ask my local dealer which I tought was my freind as I got a silver dollar out of this feild, so I told him I had a great spot to detect. He came out and I picked up my second silver dollar right behind him. We had a great day and I told him not to tell anyone about it, but he was welcome to come out and detect with me. 2 days latter while I was at work he brought 13 guys out there from what one of the neighbors told me. Not a nice guy at all, but I still did well there. One evening my wife and myself got 63 coins with none newer than 1930 in 2 hours with many of these IH and barber. My wife found what was left of a old coin purse as the leather was rotted away, but it held a seated dime and 2 cent piece and 2 IH pennies.
This was in 1977 and this is what I got that year.
2 silver Morgan dollars
3 walking lib halfs
3 franklin halfs
7 barber halfs ( I got a total of 12 out of there in the next couple of years)
9 barber quarter
5 standing lib quarters
23 silver quarters
3 seated dimes
17 barber dimes
75 merc dimes
68 silver rosies
6 Canadian silver dimes
17 V nickles
44 Buffalo nickles
23 War nickles
56 IH pennies
Plus I never kept track of the wheaties, but had to be over 500.
I just wonder how much more those 13 guys my dealer brought out got that day or when they came back, but it was a site I will never forget and how the first time accoss it I didnt hit a single coin, must have walked between them all.

They have developed this golf course so it is fancy with houses all the way around, but a few of us they know are carefull can still go in the fall before the ground freezes up, but we have to stay off the greens. It is very tough now and lucky to find one old coin, but last fall a few barber dimes and some IH plus 1 seated dime and a standing lib quarter was found there with the Explorers and I was just getting used to my Quarrto so I ask to do some signals comparrison and one the guy didnt know if the Quattro could see it as it was deep, but he said it was a good one. The Quattro locked right on to it with a great signal, even better than the Explorer did, when dug was a 10 inch deep barber dime. I was able to find one signal with the quattro that the guy with the Explorer said was very weak and possible trash. That was a 12 inch deep 1917 wheatie that had nails around it.
This was one of the greatest sites I ever hit, and only 5 blocks from my house. Would love to find another one such as this as you get spoiled real easy.
I am sure many of us old timers to detecting could tell you stories of some of the great site and finds they have found over the years. I have one guy here that has 12 old halfs and 286 silver so far this year and would you beleive from parks, fairgrounds, ball feilds and old race track plus even some churches many feel are worked out? Research is how he found out about them in old platt maps, so he knew they held old and deep coins many dont take the time to work slow and easy and listen to the tones more than what the meter says.

Rick

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

Wow, it's tough to beat Rick's post. There's a prime example of some of the types of stuff you're talking about. And then you throw those ghost towns in the mix that you were talking about...the possibilities are tremendous.

What am I looking for in the woods? Well, the first rule of detecting is that you will find things anywhere that people have been. Or congregated. Or camped, hunted, hiked, etc. The woods around here (and more specifically, where I work...about 30 miles from here in Suffolk, Virginia) and rich in Civil War history. In fact, Suffolk was occupied for nearly 3 years by the Union Army. So anywhere in the woods that you can swing, they camped and often fought. I have POUNDS of Civil War bullets, buttons, and other such stuff as well as a good number of coins from the era.

Remember also that what it looks like NOW isn't always what it looked like THEN. So those woods or that empty field could have been something else a couple of hundred years ago. One thing about the woods is that they are often very free of trash and have been undisturbed for many years. Here are a few of my finds from the fields and woods around Suffolk.

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

Some Others...

 

[Rick(ND)]

This is something that is stressed a lot if you want to hit some of those great spots. Many take the easy way out and hit the parks and ballfeilds they know and like Mike say some of these spots are not like they were then. Many old picnic grounds and some of the old parks have been moved and some there has been houses built on them, so by checking old maps or even some of the old newspapers we can get some good lead. I have been buying up some of the old 100 year centennial books of towns in my area off E Bay. It is surprising how many site are no longer there and how many most people that detect dont know of where people congregated back in the late 1800 or early 1900. At present time we are working to find a park that had many picnic at that was no longer used after 1923. From what we have read thousands of people use it from 1885-1923, so it should have a lot of barber and seated plus many IH pennies. Talking to many people that are over 80 helps find alot of great sites plus most older people like to visit about the oldden days, these are walking history books we can get a lot of good info from
Another thing with detecting you may be surprised by the unexpected as a newer ballfeild I get a 1876 seated dime no more than 5 inches deep while merc have been over 6. The dirt used for fill must have had it in it. Got 2 seated dimes in a yard too that were not more than 1 inch down while the wheaties in the 40s were 5-6 inches deep, so be prepared for the unexpected in detecting.

Rick

 

[beachguy777]

I love it, I love it , I love it. That would surley get my blood pumping to find any of that. I love the 1917 button or whatever it is. The exciting thing to me is not only how cool the items are, but the fact that you found em out in the woods, away from everybody, knowing that somebody, long long a ago had to lose it out there. I can see the appeal of relic hunting, and the more I think about it, if I don't make the time to drive to some of these mining towns in Nevada or maybe even California, I need to be shot. What an opportunity. I'll let you know if it happens.

 

[beachguy777]

Rick, that's one of the best detector stories I've ever heard. Who would think that a golf course used to be an old race track or meeting place for people. That's a bummer about the dealer sending all his buddy's out there. What a drag, but you still made a terriffic haul out of there. That's outstanding. I get so discouraged sometimes, cause I know this Quatro can find this stuff, but like the man said, you gotta have it under your coil in order to find it. That gives me a lot of hope, and I totally agree on the reasarch thing and talking to the old timers. They can give you invaluable information on stuff. Things, that you might not find at the library, like where people used to gamble or lovers lane, or any kind of people stuff where they might have lost something. I'm even getting interested in any info on where the "bad buys" hid their loot or maybe dropped it on the run. The list is endless. Thanks again for a great story.

 

[beachguy777]

Mike, I'm almost hiperventolating looking at those pictures.... And I thought you were only into the beaches, WOW!!!! That's some G R E A T stuff. I wonder how you got the cow bones?? Really some cool bones. Maybe just for display, but great display. That's wonderful you have all that civil war stuff back there, especially when you can get away with searching for it without having the National Park guys on your a.. I really worry about those guys because I was searching in Yosemeti National park years ago with my old Bounty Hunter and the Park Ranger drove up in her jeep and scared me half to death. No lie. At the time I didn't know it was such a crime, but she pretty much put the fear of God in me, but like you say, not all these areas are national parks, and you must have done some research to know the troups were out there years ago. Keep sharing those pictures, they're such an inspiration.

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

The key there is "National Parks". Add to that "State Parks". Both are generally off limits. On the other hand, most "Public property" is usually fair game. Like city parks, beaches, public school grounds, and woods that aren't posted. We still have lots of all of those places around here. And I guess I do more land hunting than beach hunting, now that you mention it. But the lure of all that jewelry and money is too great for me to ignore in the summer. And I DO love my night hunting...so awesome.

As for the skull, I believe it;s a deer and I found it laying on the ground in an area where I was digging bullets. In fact, I was in the woods right behind the building I work in, on my lunch hour.

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

The particular place in the woods where that 10K pin came from, along with several Barber coins, Indian Heads, and some teens wheaties was apparently a camping spot...I'm thinking Boy Scouts maybe. It was in a clearing in the woods with a lot of old logs around and none of the stuff was real deep...like no more than 5 to 8 inches.

Yes, you should head for those old towns. Even if they've been hit and hit hard, there's always stuff missed. And you have a modern hi-tech machine. Who knows?

 

[beachguy777]

You betcha Mike!!! Man that's exciting to think they were camping that long ago and lost that stuff. Still gets my blood pumping again. I love the old campsite, or old gambling, or carnival idea. Like you say, anywhere people congregated years ago and probably lost things. I found an old amusement park here on the Historical society thing, but where they say it was is full of houses and business now, but you know, maybe there's some vacent lots, or curbsides or something in that area, so I might go check it out. Plus, that same park was also near or on one of our beaches here called Ocean Beach. I think I should look further, plus that area of the beach had bathers back in the 1800's so, I need to go down there, (without my dog) and get serious. You know, Mike, it's just like when we were kids, only when we were kids we didn't have metal detectors, at least I didn't. I remember burying a small pirate treasure chest when I was a kid down our canyon, just for fun, and it was metal. Guess, what? I don't know if I ever dug it up again. Wouldn't it be fun to get permission to go down behind our old house and look for it?

 

[beachguy777]

As we used to say here in California, "Mike, that's bitchen"!!!!.. That actually means it's good. Isn't it cool that you can go right near the place you work and still find some cool stuff. I hear you on the beach thing. I know I need to stay with it and refine my techniques to try and find some gold and silver, plus it's s o o.. much easier to dig in the sand. Let's face it, when you're digging rock hard ground with crushed up rocks and God know's what else, you really don't want to dig pop tops, but the beach gives you a break. Thanks for sharing the other stuff with us, I think it makes for a more well rounded treasure hunting deal. I know for me at least, well if the beach ain't cuttin it, I can always go to the other stuff and the other stuff can be rewarding too. i.e. older coins, relics, stuff you might not find at the beach.