I have three 100 + year old parks in my town, ranging from 16 to 32 acres in size. I am positive they have all been hunted extensively in the past. But I have recovered silver in two of them and to be fair, I have barely hunted any of the third one. The largest one has been the most consistent producer but it took aerial photos and old newspaper clipping research to locate the areas that held gatherings that took place in the silver coin era. An old ballfield that isn't there anymore adjacent to an area that was purposefully flooded in the winter for a skating rink has given up more than a dozen silvers including a Barber half dating back to 1908 and and a V nickel dating to 1904. Almost all of them have been deep and some of them masked by trash. If your park is old, there is silver there. But easy and abundant park silver is a rare thing. Do the research, talk to old timers, look at old newspaper clippings of events that took place there in the past. Find the oldest and most often used areas, dig the iffy deep signals, and don't give up. There is still good stuff there, I promise you.
As far as yards and curbs strips go, obviously older houses with bigger yards ,historically owned by the more affluent are best, but don't overlook any older property, especially if you can determine that the dirt is original. That is not always easy but a quick pass near the front steps or along the likely path to where any cars might have been parked will usually yield a clue. Dig the nickel signals and of course any obvious high tones. Find a wheatie, then you have found old dirt. Carefully grid in at least two directions. Many promising looking yards are a disappointment,but the good ones more than make up for it. Good luck!!
One can only dig so much foil.....
