More Metal Detecting Sites

Here are a few more metal detecting sites to try. The lists on this site are not comprehensive, though, so always keep your eyes and mind open for new opportunities. I once saw a playground that have been completely covered in sand, for example, and I am sure that sand hid a lot of coins that fell from kids' pockets.

Where People Used To Walk

The owner of a coin shop told me he once paid a woman $700 for an old coin she found using a metal detector. She searched where the city had torn up the old sidewalks for the first time in almost a century. Keep an eye out for any stories in the paper about the removal of old sidewalks.

Keep in mind that paved roads often used to be unpaved too. Some were even walking paths at one time, and dirt hides fallen coins pretty well. If you see that an old road has had the pavement torn out, try to scan the area with your detector.

Around the front of abandoned general stores is one of the best places to find old coins.

Beaches

Beaches are a favorite metal detecting site for good reasons. To start with, a fresh supply of "treasure" can be deposited there every day in summer if it is a popular lake. During festivals in one town I used to live in, the beaches were packed every day, and there were several treasure hunters there every evening. A friend tells me that she and her husband have found coins and a dozen rings and watches there. Dropped items disappear fast when they fall into dry sand, and they are found almost as fast if you have a metal detector.

Another reason we all like going to the beach to "coin shoot" is that it's the easiest place of all to dig up those treasures.

Swimming Holes

The best haul I ever had in one place with my metal detector was at a small lake a mile's hike down an old road or path. A popular swimming hole, it had a rope swing and evidence of many parties (beer cans were everywhere). There was a small sandy beach at one end, and that's where I started. I dug almost 70 coins in an hours time, and the lesson was clear: when a place is harder to get to, it's a good bet that it isn't searched to frequently.

Try anyplace people gather to swim, whether in river, lake, pond or old gravel quarry if you can access it legally. Naturally those areas with loose dirt or sand are more likely to have hidden any fallen coins, but look near fire circles as well. Your best prospect is if you can discover a place that used to be a swimming hole, but hasn't been used for many years. If its popularity ended before that of metal detectors started, the old coin there could make it one of the best metal detecting sites you'll find.