First Sac. & First Park Official

Silver Fox

Sr. Member
Dec 8, 2007
485
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New York City, USA
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter Land Star
First Sac. & First Park Official

I have just about given up on finding any old coins and silver in NYC's Riverside Park; a park that should deliver older coins anywhere from the late 1800s to 1964 for silver. Yes, I have found SLQs & Liberty Heads (Mercs). Not that many but at least some. But that was years ago and the well seems to have dried up. So even though I go to places that should have these coins, such as the location of a 1913 dedication where 10,000 were in attendance; zip, nada, nothing. I doubt if anyone, regardless of detector wil find a Barber dime let alone a Barber half. Or a WL half. Much doubts.

So I go still hoping silver will find the light of day but knowing that I'm always going to wind up walking back home through the same old tried trails picking up a clad coin here and a clad coin there. Today I picked up 7 quarters, six dimes, 2 nickels(!), 3 cents, and my first Sacajawea dollar coin. I could have probably picked up more dimes and cents but I pass up a lot looking for that icon to register Quarter or higher. You may ask, why pass up dimes and cents. My answer is that I've gotten lazy and because I got spoiled by my previous detector, my trusty ol' Teknetics Mark I Ltd which was able to distinguish between cent and dime, not only visually but with different tones so that when I heard that sound it wasn't necessary for me to look at the meter I KNEW it was a dime and those I dug. But I just cannot be bothered to search for a cent. In other locations where there might be IHs I would do it but not in Riverside Park.

Then while I was moving from one location to another I arrived at a fenced off area and on the road ahead of me was a parks department vehicle and the driver was walking nearby on his cell phone. When he got through with his call he walked over to me and asked me if I had a permit. But as he asked me he showed me his ID wallet with the badge, etc. (I'll show you mine if you show me yours!) I showed him my permit but I don't think he had any idea what he was looking at as he kept going to the beaches section and I had to show him the list of parks.

I asked him if he knew when the fenced off area would be opened and he took a few steps to look at the posted signs but it didn't say. But he said that even if it was I couldn't detect in that area. There's nothing special or different about this area. Without the fence it's just like the rest of the park. He said it was a Class A area (?) and I said why aren't there signs to prevent detecting in that area. He could answer properly but looked at the signs again and said it was a Passive area. Whatever the hell that has to do with anything I don't know. Passive means to me no active sports, just a hanging out area. He was looking my permit over and saw the word rough area. I showed him an area around a tree that had no grass, just dirt. I asked him if THAT was a rough area and he said no, and then pointed to a small intersection corner where two paths come together and where a lamp sits. I has about 3 or 4 feet of bare dirt. THAT he said was a rough area. What an anal cavity! These are the people that rule or govern our hobby. A man in a suit that drives around god knows doing what and yet he has power over us, in a certain way.

After I left the park I thought why didn't I ask him what he would have done if I didn't have a permit. That might have been an opportunity he rarely encounters where he could have waxed victorious and pulled rank, etc. The actual, though rare, rangers and cops are real friendly and as long as you have a permit they banter with you asking what you've found, etc.

About the Sac. Even though it registers as a quarter and you think you're going for a quarter, you still look at the coin trying to figure out what it is as the inside edge gives it away that you don't have a quarter. But the new, non-shiny look makes it less attractive. Still, one dollar. Saves digging four times for quarters, or 10 times for dimes, 100 cents!

I didn't include photos 'cause you've all seen clads galore.

Silver Fox
 

Upvote 3
Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

Silver Fox said:
He was looking my permit over and saw the word rough area. I showed him an area around a tree that had no grass, just dirt. I asked him if THAT was a rough area and he said no, and then pointed to a small intersection corner where two paths come together and where a lamp sits. I has about 3 or 4 feet of bare dirt. THAT he said was a rough area. What an anal cavity! This are the people that rule or govern our hobby. A man in a suit that drives around god knows doing what and yet he has power over us, in a certain way.

After I left the park I thought why didn't I ask him what he would have done if I didn't have a permit. That might have been an opportunity he rarely encounters where he could have waxed victorious and pulled rank, etc. The actual, though rare, rangers and cops are real friendly and as long as you have a permit they banter with you asking what you've found, etc.


Silver Fox

This is one thing that really irritates me as well about public land. Unfortunately it has been a major stumbling block at times for some good spots for me. Seems so wrong to inhibit a person from metal detecting an area but you can do just about anything else there.
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

what kind of permit are you talking about? I have never heard of out out here. can you tell me more??
thanks!!

WireBender
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

wirebender said:
what kind of permit are you talking about? I have never heard of out out here. can you tell me more??
thanks!!

WireBender
Although when one speaks of New York City one is talking about Manhattan, NYC is comprised of 5 boroughs: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island. There are approx. 1,700 parks and you're allowed to metal detect in only 27 parks. And you need a Parks Department Permit to dig in certain areas of each park. If you don't have this permit with you and a Ranger comes up to you, he may simply issue a warning and you might be asked to leave or to just cease digging. I don't think that walking around in the parks with a detector is outlawed, just the digging. Permits are free and all you have to do is request one via various means. Enjoying a walk through the park one day I brought mine to the office, left it with an office person and about a week later I received a new one in the mail which you see in the photos below.

Silver Fox
 

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Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

Fox, sorry you had a run in with the anal retentive person. Im with you on the big silver though. If the park hasnt been graded and filled with top soil in the last 100 years my only thoughts are this. The bigger coins have sunk below the depth of what most detectors can go. When i hunt my area i dont pound the grass but do run though it now and agian. All of my silver from there "merc dimes" were at the 6-8 inch marc. I have however got great signals at the 13+ mark but didnt want to dig that deep in the grass. The other thought is that the big silver when droped at the time was easy to spot and stayed on top of the grass longer. Money was tight back then also, for someone to lose 1/2 or a doller was alot. Keep swinging and dont let this one person ruin your time. I cant waite for the day one of these morons come bumbleing over to me to try and pull that crap.

Bob
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

Sucks that you had a run in with the law! Good job on the saq! :thumbsup:
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

Holy cow ! That permit is pretty restrictive. According to the wording, you have to notify the authorities if you find a Rosie dime, and you may have to turn it over to them. Added to that is the wording of the areas which are restricted, including areas with native vegetation, woodland areas, etc. Not much area left in a park. I think our local parks people had some input from MD clubs to write their permit rules. They're a little more reasonable. And there is no requirement to turn over *any* finds to the dept.
Sounds like you ran into a "supervisor" type. Most regular patrol rangers are used to dealing with the real world. Good Luck
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

Hey Ed,
There's still some silver in that park........I know a couple of spots that have produced, and not in bad numbers. I know the place as seen coil action, but I know for sure that not everything was found. NYC parks these days, and you can verify this with my hunting partner LI TOM………..have very small isolated pockets holding silver. The area may be thirty feet by 10 feet and this is where you are going to find twenty silver coins. To locate an area like that in tens or hundreds of acres of park is the hard part. I’d love to get together with you and Glenn someday at this park. I’m not sure what the deal is with these rangers this year. Seems like they’re adopting the infamous Bronx Park methods of harassing people. My advice for now until something is actually done is to avoid them altogether by going to the parks when they are not. They normally start their day at 8:30am and finish their rounds at 3:30pm. I have a pretty good knowledge of their schedules per park. The worst time to be out there is at or around 3:30, as this is when they make their final rounds of the entire park they patrol.
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

Hey Silver Fox, it all depends on the park rangers you run into. Back in February I couldn't resist searching at one of the 1,700 parks not listed on the permit. It's around the block from my house and it had been producing clad the first day. On the second day I noticed the parks department supervisors van doing slow drive by's in the area I was digging. You know the van with the big green leaf on the door. Within minutes from the corner of my eye comes this small white unmarked jeep across the lawn towards me. Uh-Oh I thought. When it gets near me the windows roll down and 2 men in green uniforms appear. Park Police.

They ask me how I'm doing. Knowing I was busted I come up with the best excuse I could. "I'm looking for my wife's wedding ring she lost it here while walking the dogs yesterday". They smirked as if to say they heard that one before. He said listen, I had been spotted there the other day too. I said OK but I'm being neat with my holes and then I pulled out all the trash I had been cleaning up from the park. I got another smirk. In a very nice way he explained that was all good but if it had been any other officers I would have been hit with a 300 dollar fine for illegal excavating and another 150 for possessing digging tools and he pointed at my trowel.

Realizing I was getting a break I repeatedly thanked them and how appreciated not getting fined. I volunteered to pack it up and get out of there. They smiled back and thanked me for my cooperation, and reminded me that other officers would not be so nice next time. I never returned again knowing next time they saw me would cost me a weeks pay. I think Ricardo is right you're better off hunting on their off hours just to avoid them altogether.

Harry......
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

Hey Silver Fox about not finding silver in New York City parks you are right it is almost impossible now. There is no such thing as a hunted out park but we are quickly approaching it. I mostly hunt at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. Been hitting it for months now, nothing but clad, Wheaties, a war nickel and a few trinkets. A couple days ago I finally started finding silver, but it took months of searching and it is in this little secluded, isolated wooded area. Ricardo is right again, the silver is concentrated in these small isolated areas, within these ancient gigantic parks. Boy Ricardo is wise for his age..LOL ;D ;D

Harry.
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

Another case that public officials believe in the concept of "Public serves us" instead of "Public service"
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

EZrider said:
Fox, sorry you had a run in with the anal retentive person. Im with you on the big silver though. If the park hasnt been graded and filled with top soil in the last 100 years my only thoughts are this. The bigger coins have sunk below the depth of what most detectors can go. When i hunt my area i dont pound the grass but do run though it now and agian. All of my silver from there "merc dimes" were at the 6-8 inch marc. I have however got great signals at the 13+ mark but didnt want to dig that deep in the grass. The other thought is that the big silver when droped at the time was easy to spot and stayed on top of the grass longer. Money was tight back then also, for someone to lose 1/2 or a doller was alot. Keep swinging and dont let this one person ruin your time. I cant waite for the day one of these morons come bumbleing over to me to try and pull that crap.

Bob
Hi Bob: Riverside Park is not your average park since it has traffic lanes above and below some sections and freight trains in the lower sections. People do sunbathe in the upper parts and also in some of the lower parts which have the active areas. The place where I went that had the 1913 Firemen's Memorial is a 2-lawn area but you can tell that the original level is much deeper than the current surface and it keeps getting regularly refilled. So, like the beaches, you need to have a hell of a lot of top surface removed to reveal those old coins that may have been lost during the 1913 dedication. The rest of the upper section is not a coin heaven.

The lower section was redone in the 1930s when Robert Moses must have torn it up to have freight train tracks installed and the park is over these tracks with lots of ventilation gratings visible. I have found some silver coins but like I said nothing more than SLQs and Mercs. I would really be surprised if someone were to find any Barber coins anywhere in the park.

And the Parks guy did not bother me as I kept detecting and found the small area where I got the other coins and the Sac. Officials have never bothered me as long as I have my permit and I don't leave unsightly dug areas and he wasn't hostile or impolite. It's the logic, or lack of it, that is disturbing.

Edward
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

I_Dig_NYC said:
Hey Silver Fox, it all depends on the park rangers you run into. Back in February I couldn't resist searching at one of the 1,700 parks not listed on the permit. It's around the block from my house and it had been producing clad the first day. On the second day I noticed the parks department supervisors van doing slow drive by's in the area I was digging. You know the van with the big green leaf on the door. Within minutes from the corner of my eye comes this small white unmarked jeep across the lawn towards me. Uh-Oh I thought. When it gets near me the windows roll down and 2 men in green uniforms appear. Park Police.

They ask me how I'm doing. Knowing I was busted I come up with the best excuse I could. "I'm looking for my wife's wedding ring she lost it here while walking the dogs yesterday". They smirked as if to say they heard that one before. He said listen, I had been spotted there the other day too. I said OK but I'm being neat with my holes and then I pulled out all the trash I had been cleaning up from the park. I got another smirk. In a very nice way he explained that was all good but if it had been any other officers I would have been hit with a 300 dollar fine for illegal excavating and another 150 for possessing digging tools and he pointed at my trowel.

Realizing I was getting a break I repeatedly thanked them and how appreciated not getting fined. I volunteered to pack it up and get out of there. They smiled back and thanked me for my cooperation, and reminded me that other officers would not be so nice next time. I never returned again knowing next time they saw me would cost me a weeks pay. I think Ricardo is right you're better off hunting on their off hours just to avoid them altogether.

Harry......
I'm not out to avoid being questioned by a cop, a Ranger, or an official, they have a job to do and stupid rules and regulations to enforce. But with me they don't have a victim 'cause I'm friendly and do not challenge their authority. They see where I am but they don't see where I've dug so all they can do is tell I'm in an authorised area and to move on.

But I know what it's like to "lock horns" with a Ranger that has caught me in the act when I used to detect in Central Park. In all of the years that I detected there, pulling out thousands of coins, etc., I was approached only about 3 times and I usually got away simply by telling them I was out of town and never carried ID that I could lose and they just told me to stop digging. I did get tired of that 'cause you'd never know when you were going to get a gung-ho Ranger or cop or official who could make it difficult. So I stopped detecting in Central Park and that about wrapped it up for me until this year. The parks in the Permit may produce old coins but they're not as plentiful as in good ol' Central Park and for me it's not worth the subway ride.

I've detected in CP, Riverside, Morningside, Van Cortlandt, Prospect, and other parks and most just have been a waste of time, as far as silver or old coins. Clads, there's always plenty.

Silver Fox
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

I_Dig_NYC said:
Hey Silver Fox about not finding silver in New York City parks you are right it is almost impossible now. There is no such thing as a hunted out park but we are quickly approaching it. I mostly hunt at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. Been hitting it for months now, nothing but clad, Wheaties, a war nickel and a few trinkets. A couple days ago I finally started finding silver, but it took months of searching and it is in this little secluded, isolated wooded area. Ricardo is right again, the silver is concentrated in these small isolated areas, within these ancient gigantic parks. Boy Ricardo is wise for his age..LOL ;D ;D

Harry.
I'm a Van Cortland veteran also and I've done that huge field, the little secluded wooded area, Washington's home, and zilch! And the ground is more difficult than in any park I've hunted. I also approached it from another area past a golf course where there is some old buildings and nobody lost anything there. I have an arrangement with my wife if I die first: after I'm cremated she is going to take a bunch of clad coins I'm going to leave behind in a coffee can and she is going to bury the coins in Central Park and distribute my ashes over the area. Nah, I'm not going to haunt anybody if they find the coins!

Silver Fox
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

allen said:
park rangers are usually a$$e$ who know nothing...
In a major city such as New York City, cops of all kinds are just not that smart. I think of them as licensed thugs who are far removed from the civilian population. Few city cops live in the city, usually out in the suburbs. They're usually hostile slaves of a system that doesn't really represent us. When I was a kid I was friendly with the cops on the beat. One even took his gun out of his holster and aimed it at me in a friendly way and we all laughed. You'd never see a cop doing such a think nowadays.

Park Rangers have a little green book called Rules and Regulations. I used to have a copy so I'd know what they were enforcing. Park cops are a different breed from the Rangers and they're there more as crime fighters with the power to mess with you if they see you with a detector. But they don't have that little green book. Cops in my neighborhood are the biggest scoflaws violating the very laws they're sworn to enforce. There's a website replete with photos that people submit showing how cops violate.

You rarely see a cop and when you do they're usually doing something stupid.

Silver Fox
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

Ed, the silver is still in these parks, it's just not as plentiful by any means. I sure as heck was not in a position to detect in the 70's or 80's. I was a kid........but from what I have heard, those days are over in almost every town or city, unless you find those virgin sites or have access to private houses/land. I sometimes feel spoiled when I find four or five coins in a single day. I'm pretty sure that would've been a bust of a hunt ten or so years ago. Some parks these days I'm feeling good if I find two good coins. Still, I know there is silver.........even in the places that have dried up for me and Tom, I go back and squeeze out another. You gotta force those parks to cough 'em up Ed!

Best,
Ricardo
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

Silver Fox said:
I_Dig_NYC said:
Hey Silver Fox about not finding silver in New York City parks you are right it is almost impossible now. There is no such thing as a hunted out park but we are quickly approaching it. I mostly hunt at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. Been hitting it for months now, nothing but clad, Wheaties, a war nickel and a few trinkets. A couple days ago I finally started finding silver, but it took months of searching and it is in this little secluded, isolated wooded area. Ricardo is right again, the silver is concentrated in these small isolated areas, within these ancient gigantic parks. Boy Ricardo is wise for his age..LOL  ;D ;D

Harry.
I'm a Van Cortland veteran also and I've done that huge field, the little secluded wooded area, Washington's home, and zilch!  And the ground is more difficult than in any park I've hunted.  I also approached it from another area past a golf course where there is some old buildings and nobody lost anything there.  I have an arrangement with my wife if I die first: after I'm cremated she is going to take a bunch of clad coins I'm going to leave behind in a coffee can and she is going to bury the coins in Central Park and distribute my ashes over the area.  Nah, I'm not going to haunt anybody if they find the coins!

Silver Fox

Hey Silver Fox, here's a link to an article for you to check out and read;
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/nyregion/16coin.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
It's an article on some treasure hunters from New Jersey that sparked a stampede of treasure hunters and a lot of hostility between the parks officials and us metal detecting people. Ricardo can tell you about it too. He knows a little more about it than I do, it's something we talked about before.
So you're a Van Cortlandt veteran huh. I have walked that gigantic field only to find a few clad dimes and pennies.
I avoid that section of the park along Broadway. It's crawling with parks people, and rangers are stationed by the old mansion. And it's where all the treasure hunters hit because of the history in that section of the park. I hunt the far east end of the park about half a mile north east, over near Gunhill Road, Jerome Avenue and Woodlawn Cemetary. There is also another golf course up there. Well I hunt there in an area near the highway, has a large parking lot flanked by two large baseball fields. It's secluded not too many people know about it and rarely will you see a park worker and never will you see park rangers. I did see some horse mounted park rangers ride through once but they looked like they were just out excersising their horses. There's some secluded woods there that once was a picnic/BBQ area and thats where I found the silver. I know I'm revealing my secret spot but hey if you or anyone else ever want to meet me there you're more than welcome. It's a large park I'm not gonna hog it all to myself. Anyway I NEVER had a problem there, even before I got my permit, and I'm wondering if you know where I'm talking about. It's probably one of the last remaining undisturbed areas in the whole park.
Tell me what you think about the news article.

Harry.
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

You should have gotten his name or badge # and talked to his boss about him. They are suppose to show you the utmost respect but never do. Also I read those papers and thats total bs. I will keep everything I find, and if they want it, they should hire their own team of metal detectors.
 

Re: First Sac. & First Park Official

relichunters said:
You should have gotten his name or badge # and talked to his boss about him. They are suppose to show you the utmost respect but never do. Also I read those papers and thats total bs. I will keep everything I find, and if they want it, they should hire their own team of metal detectors.
Nah, he wasn't disrespectful and I don't like to make waves when not needed. He was just doing his job, it just that he was a stiff upper lip of a person. The Parks Department doesn't seem interested in pursuing what you found if you don't report it, they have enough problems with us being inconsequential. There are some areas of archaeological interest but you never see an archeologist in the park. Part of the park used to be habitated by the downtrodden and there are still some signs of the areas they lived in. The problem with the enforcers is that they don't normally enforce what they should and the park is a haven for pets, particularly dogs who seem to have the run of the park and you rarely see Rangers or cops hassling the scoflaws. But if they see a detectorist it's like a red flag went up in their brain.

As long as you're legal there's nothing to get worked up about. Just cooperate and they leave you alone.
 

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