DWtexas
Elite Member
There are many different approaches to performing a task successfully and metal detecting is no exception. This is MY approach to finding old coins and not the be-all-end-all approach. Usually 20 to 25% of all the coins I dig are pre-1964. I follow a very methodical process and have shared it with others who’ve had success with it.
Know your machine and how to use it. To learn it, I recommend two techniques. Hunt with an experienced detectorist who's using the same model of detector as you are. As he/she locates a target, have them explain what they think the target is and why. Also make sure you hear the signal, see the display and the recovered target. This will minimize a lot of frustrating guesswork. The second technique is to dig everything while taking note of the sounds you are hearing, the visual indication you are seeing and the target you’ve actually recovered.
Use good equipment. This does not mean you have to purchase the most expensive detector available. You simply need to make sure your detector can offer some sort of feedback regarding the target. Use a pinpointer! Nothing is worse than finding a key date coin and scratching it in the process. A pinpointer can also mean the difference in finding 50 coins rather than 20 in a day.
Now for my process:
Locate an older neighborhood or home. When I’m travelling around the country, I’m often visiting cities I have no knowledge of. I do an Internet search for “<city name> historic neighborhood”. Once I have the names of a few areas, I look at the online tax records for those areas. Each record will tell you the age the home was built. After I’ve found about 20 homes in a given area, that are 1800s to 1920, I’ll look at the homes on Google Maps using the street view function.
Determine the date of a home. If you don’t have the tax role information available, evaluate the age of the homes by looking at the chimney and the foundation. Often a home owner will put new siding on a 100+ year old home to make it look newer, but they will rarely repair cracks in the chimney. In 1913 Ready Mix Concrete revolutionized home building by making concrete foundations an affordable alternative to pier and beam construction. With that in mind, I usually consider homes with concrete foundations to be built no earlier than 1920. It should be noted that some home owners, in effort to keep up with the Jones, had faux concrete foundations built under the edge of their homes. These are basically stucco looking constructions. If a home has a stone foundation, it’s definitely worth stopping.
Read the yard/land around the home. Look at the level of the lawn. If it’s very flat, one of two things may have happened. The surface may have been bladed by a dozer, or fill dirt may have been brought it. Both of these may adversely affect the amount of recoveries you’ll make. Of course, the home may have been built on a flat lot, but you should find out before detecting. If the lawn is rolling, there are high spots around the trees, or a low spot where a tree was removed, the lawn is probably untouched and a great place to detect.
Go knock on the door and get permission FIRST. This is the most important point of my tips. Permission is everything and the best way to get it is to dress appropriately. A button-down shirt, clean jean (no holes), leave the digging tool and detector in the car and take off your sunglasses. People will trust you quicker if they can see your eyes. Remember, bandits wear masks and your sunglasses often create the same subconscious image. If you look like a person who has a job, you’re probably not looking for an easy score and are easier to trust as well. Business cards are helpful, though I don’t personally use them.
Picture life in 1935 - it was hot and sticky during the summer months. The first modern air conditioned home received its AC in 1914, while the rest of the country didn’t really enjoy it in their homes until 1948 when the industry boomed. So, back to 1935. People would sit under shade trees during the evening hours after coming home from work. Look to see where the trees cast their shade during those hours of the day. People would often sit on the Eastern side of the home, allowing it to provide shade. All of these areas are great spots to hunt. Look around the edges of the porch for coins that may have fallen from pockets and rolled off the edge – folks sat on the front porch and often on porch swings. Locate the clothes line. If there isn’t one, imagine where you would put one. Often clothes were hung with change still in the pockets, only to shaken loose by the wind. Locate the privy, again imagining where one would be. Occasionally you can still see a depression in the lawn where a trail was worn going to the privy. During those evening hour trips, coins were dropped as a person raised or lowered their trousers. Being dropped in the dark, the coins were not noticed or pursued until the next morning. Then the person couldn’t remember just how many steps away from the privy they were, or how fast they were moving when they dropped the coin.
Urban homes are more productive than rural homes. Urban folks carried money because they used it daily. Rural folks kept their money safely tucked away until the rare trip into town for supplies or for Sunday’s tithing. Consequently, they didn’t drop too many coins. This is not to say avoid these places. Quite to the contrary; you will often find that a well-maintained older home will usually have less trash on the lawn. The targets you recover, while fewer than in the city, will be worth the effort.
Work every lawn like it belongs to someone really important – because it does. People are curious about what lies beneath the surface, but they don’t want you destroying their lawn to get to it. I do my absolute best to make sure every plug I cut looks like it did before my recovery. It doesn’t always work that way; occasionally a plug will fall apart. Several times I’ve had neighbors come over and comment on the good job I’ve done respecting the lawn. Nearly every single time I’ve received an invitation to detect their lawn. Once in Fairborn, Ohio, I detected over 30 homes in a single neighborhood. It took several weekends and my hunting buddies and I worked as quickly as we could. More than half the lawns were by invitation from observant neighbors. I realize this was probably an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but it can happen. It should be noted, this happened in 2003-2004, not 20 or 30 years ago in more carefree times.
That’s my method to recovering older coins. I hope it helps you find those older coins.
Know your machine and how to use it. To learn it, I recommend two techniques. Hunt with an experienced detectorist who's using the same model of detector as you are. As he/she locates a target, have them explain what they think the target is and why. Also make sure you hear the signal, see the display and the recovered target. This will minimize a lot of frustrating guesswork. The second technique is to dig everything while taking note of the sounds you are hearing, the visual indication you are seeing and the target you’ve actually recovered.
Use good equipment. This does not mean you have to purchase the most expensive detector available. You simply need to make sure your detector can offer some sort of feedback regarding the target. Use a pinpointer! Nothing is worse than finding a key date coin and scratching it in the process. A pinpointer can also mean the difference in finding 50 coins rather than 20 in a day.
Now for my process:
Locate an older neighborhood or home. When I’m travelling around the country, I’m often visiting cities I have no knowledge of. I do an Internet search for “<city name> historic neighborhood”. Once I have the names of a few areas, I look at the online tax records for those areas. Each record will tell you the age the home was built. After I’ve found about 20 homes in a given area, that are 1800s to 1920, I’ll look at the homes on Google Maps using the street view function.
Determine the date of a home. If you don’t have the tax role information available, evaluate the age of the homes by looking at the chimney and the foundation. Often a home owner will put new siding on a 100+ year old home to make it look newer, but they will rarely repair cracks in the chimney. In 1913 Ready Mix Concrete revolutionized home building by making concrete foundations an affordable alternative to pier and beam construction. With that in mind, I usually consider homes with concrete foundations to be built no earlier than 1920. It should be noted that some home owners, in effort to keep up with the Jones, had faux concrete foundations built under the edge of their homes. These are basically stucco looking constructions. If a home has a stone foundation, it’s definitely worth stopping.
Read the yard/land around the home. Look at the level of the lawn. If it’s very flat, one of two things may have happened. The surface may have been bladed by a dozer, or fill dirt may have been brought it. Both of these may adversely affect the amount of recoveries you’ll make. Of course, the home may have been built on a flat lot, but you should find out before detecting. If the lawn is rolling, there are high spots around the trees, or a low spot where a tree was removed, the lawn is probably untouched and a great place to detect.
Go knock on the door and get permission FIRST. This is the most important point of my tips. Permission is everything and the best way to get it is to dress appropriately. A button-down shirt, clean jean (no holes), leave the digging tool and detector in the car and take off your sunglasses. People will trust you quicker if they can see your eyes. Remember, bandits wear masks and your sunglasses often create the same subconscious image. If you look like a person who has a job, you’re probably not looking for an easy score and are easier to trust as well. Business cards are helpful, though I don’t personally use them.
Picture life in 1935 - it was hot and sticky during the summer months. The first modern air conditioned home received its AC in 1914, while the rest of the country didn’t really enjoy it in their homes until 1948 when the industry boomed. So, back to 1935. People would sit under shade trees during the evening hours after coming home from work. Look to see where the trees cast their shade during those hours of the day. People would often sit on the Eastern side of the home, allowing it to provide shade. All of these areas are great spots to hunt. Look around the edges of the porch for coins that may have fallen from pockets and rolled off the edge – folks sat on the front porch and often on porch swings. Locate the clothes line. If there isn’t one, imagine where you would put one. Often clothes were hung with change still in the pockets, only to shaken loose by the wind. Locate the privy, again imagining where one would be. Occasionally you can still see a depression in the lawn where a trail was worn going to the privy. During those evening hour trips, coins were dropped as a person raised or lowered their trousers. Being dropped in the dark, the coins were not noticed or pursued until the next morning. Then the person couldn’t remember just how many steps away from the privy they were, or how fast they were moving when they dropped the coin.
Urban homes are more productive than rural homes. Urban folks carried money because they used it daily. Rural folks kept their money safely tucked away until the rare trip into town for supplies or for Sunday’s tithing. Consequently, they didn’t drop too many coins. This is not to say avoid these places. Quite to the contrary; you will often find that a well-maintained older home will usually have less trash on the lawn. The targets you recover, while fewer than in the city, will be worth the effort.
Work every lawn like it belongs to someone really important – because it does. People are curious about what lies beneath the surface, but they don’t want you destroying their lawn to get to it. I do my absolute best to make sure every plug I cut looks like it did before my recovery. It doesn’t always work that way; occasionally a plug will fall apart. Several times I’ve had neighbors come over and comment on the good job I’ve done respecting the lawn. Nearly every single time I’ve received an invitation to detect their lawn. Once in Fairborn, Ohio, I detected over 30 homes in a single neighborhood. It took several weekends and my hunting buddies and I worked as quickly as we could. More than half the lawns were by invitation from observant neighbors. I realize this was probably an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but it can happen. It should be noted, this happened in 2003-2004, not 20 or 30 years ago in more carefree times.
That’s my method to recovering older coins. I hope it helps you find those older coins.