Ghost towns

[7up2000]

Anybody had any luck finding coins in ghost towns? From my experience, seems to be a lot of trash and maybe not worth the effort.

 

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[Diggin-N-Dumps]

To be honest, i think the trashy the better, only because it keeps alot of Detectorist away. I hit up alot of old parks in my area that i used to pass up because the trash was too much, but when im bored and have nowhere else ot hunt, i go thru them and start cleaning things out....and finding alot of hidden goodies

 

[7up2000]

I catch your drift, Diggin-N-Dumps, but I got about 45 hours in the local city parks with nothing but pull tabs, rusty nails, clad, and discouragement to show for it. Just one silver coin, that's all I ask for!!

 

[enamel7]

I catch your drift, Diggin-N-Dumps, but I got about 45 hours in the local city parks with nothing but pull tabs, rusty nails, clad, and discouragement to show for it. Just one silver coin, that's all I ask for!!

It also depends on how old those parks are. If only 30 years old you won't find any

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

I catch your drift, Diggin-N-Dumps, but I got about 45 hours in the local city parks with nothing but pull tabs, rusty nails, clad, and discouragement to show for it. Just one silver coin, that's all I ask for!!

I totally understand the frustration...The parks i typically hit are 100+ years old,..When I first started i did research on these parks and started finding silver everywhere, but there were places that were just too junky for me to detect...Now that im running low on places, im hitting all these spots again ...No more easy Silver..lol

Do you have any old areas in your neck of the woods that you can detect?

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

It also depends on how old those parks are. If only 30 years old you won't find any

I dont even touch those areas...unless there was a house on it 50 years before the park was there

Hell, I get leery on hitting a park from the 60's

 

[7up2000]

Hell, I wouldn't waste my time at a park from the 1960s either. Most of the parks I go to have been researched and have been around since the 1930s-1940s---1950s at the latest. I did find a 1928 wheat at one of these parks so there's proof you CAN potentially find silver. I've been detecting on discrimination but can gear that back to no discrimination at some of the less trashier areas and see what I can come up with. Does anybody know, is it possible to dig a silver coin when the detector says iron?

 

[atomicscott]

It also depends on how old those parks are. If only 30 years old you won't find any

People generally can have coins in their pocket 20-30 years old. That means people visiting parks from the 1960's and even early 70's, could have dropped coins from the 1930's to 1960's. It's highly possible. I have hunted a park built in the 1980's (looking for jewelry/clad) and found a 1964 silver franc. Never expected that one!

 

[Garrett424]

People generally can have coins in their pocket 20-30 years old. That means people visiting parks from the 1960's and even early 70's, could have dropped coins from the 1930's to 1960's. It's highly possible. I have hunted a park built in the 1980's (looking for jewelry/clad) and found a 1964 silver franc. Never expected that one!

You're right about that.

I was hunting a park from the 1930's and found tons of clad but no silver (I haven't hit it hard yet; too crowded that day). I did a quick scan of the 3 year old tot lot and found two wheaties; a 1942 and 1944.

I also found an 1881 Indian head at a "new" school. You don't always know what preceded the current use of the land.
Go figure. You never really know until you dig that hole.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

You're right about that.

I was hunting a park from the 1930's and found tons of clad but no silver (I haven't hit it hard yet; too crowded that day). I did a quick scan of the 3 year old tot lot and found two wheaties; a 1942 and 1944.

I also found an 1881 Indian head at a "new" school. You don't always know what preceded the current use of the land.
Go figure. You never really know until you dig that hole.

Oh , Im not saying its not possible. You always have a chance of the land being used for something long time ago, or that they have brought in Fill dirt from an old area. My second silver ever found was a 1892 Barber Quarter in good shape, and it was obvious that it was brought in from dirt that was being used to fill in an electric pole, I saw that because the dirt around the hole was almost pure white, where as the dirt everywhere around it was pitch black.

But I do know from a couple spots i frequent, that those old parks migh still have tons of clad, but once you clean that out as well as cleaning out some trash, thats when the real goodies start to show up.

I have one particular spot that my hunting buddy and I almost gave up on because we were only finding Clad and TONS of Zinc pennies, it was a place you could hunt for 30 minutes and have 40 coins...but because of lack of places, we started hitting it again...and noticed that once all the clad was gone, it was FULL of Silver coins and V-nicks, Buffs, etc....they were just being masked by modern coins

 

[Frankn]

What happened to the ghost townes theme? They are nothing like a park.
If you are lucky enough to hunt down an old ghost town that has few if any remains, it has probably not been hunted plus modern junk like pulltabs might not even be there.
Here are some sources. United States Treasure Atlas by: Terry
Dust In The Wind by: Gary Speck
The GPAA Claims Guide also lists some.

Check them out for some happy hunting. Frank...- 1939 Beauford SC

 

[TNGUNS]

I recently made a post about a ghost town I have been hunting and the lack of coins. Some of the sites are trashy and some not so bad. Some of the area has been pounded but some virgin home sites as well. Tons of buttons, thimbles, and a few CW relics and not a single coin from the towns hay day 1812-1870.

 

[TerryC]

Try this.... Watch the neighborhood for new construction. EPA requires the land to be "scraped" to remove any bad stuff from the previous tenants (business). By scraping the lot, new trash is wiped away, leaving you 4 or 5 inches closer to the OLD stuff. They did just that to the southwest corner of Kinnikinnic and Howard in Milw., WI. I found 28 wheats, 4 silver dimes, 1922 buff and a silver quarter over the course of a summer... and only one clad! I was told the corner hosted traveling carnevals years ago. TTC

 

[RJ55]

Not to side track original comments, but an older gentleman told me of an old general store in the late 1800's close to where I live. Talked to most of the old timers in the community and they had never heard of it. Did some research, and sure enough general store 1872-1879. Found out owner of property and he give me the go ahead as soon as he gets all the hay up. Store relocated closer to city.

 

[abbynormal]

I haven't not had as much luck in "ghost town" type areas if they are at all well known because they've usually been hard hit. The ones that are the best are the ones you CAN'T find on the internet, as they may have not been hunted much or at all in some spots. You will have to wade through the trash and see if you can find the coins hidden. Generally, I find more artifacts than anything at these types of places, with only the occasional coin. I have a few spots that I am not done hunting yet, as clearing the trash takes some time and THEN I can hopefully find the hidden coins. You need the patience to clear out the larger trash in order to find the smaller coins and smaller relics like buttons.

 

[Alchemist]

I have one particular spot that my hunting buddy and I almost gave up on because we were only finding Clad and TONS of Zinc pennies, it was a place you could hunt for 30 minutes and have 40 coins...but because of lack of places, we started hitting it again...and noticed that once all the clad was gone, it was FULL of Silver coins and V-nicks, Buffs, etc....they were just being masked by modern coins

Do you check your holes and swipe the spot after you dig the clad out? The better coins should show up after the "masking" is removed, right?

 

[Frankn]

Try this.... Watch the neighborhood for new construction. EPA requires the land to be "scraped" to remove any bad stuff from the previous tenants (business). By scraping the lot, new trash is wiped away, leaving you 4 or 5 inches closer to the OLD stuff. They did just that to the southwest corner of Kinnikinnic and Howard in Milw., WI. I found 28 wheats, 4 silver dimes, 1922 buff and a silver quarter over the course of a summer... and only one clad! I was told the corner hosted traveling carnevals years ago. TTC

Hay this reminds me of a hunt in Danville IA. A friend there showed me an area where they had dumped soil remover from a shall we say a "secret military society of WWI times". It was interesting. I found some Iron soldiers, about 3" tall that there children probably use to play with, along with some other items.
A 4" scrape around here in(MD) would clear time losses back to the 40's. Frank...-

 

[7up2000]

Try this.... Watch the neighborhood for new construction. EPA requires the land to be "scraped" to remove any bad stuff from the previous tenants (business). By scraping the lot, new trash is wiped away, leaving you 4 or 5 inches closer to the OLD stuff. They did just that to the southwest corner of Kinnikinnic and Howard in Milw., WI. I found 28 wheats, 4 silver dimes, 1922 buff and a silver quarter over the course of a summer... and only one clad! I was told the corner hosted traveling carnevals years ago. TTC

Great idea and congrats on your summer finds

 

[TerryC]

I haven't not had as much luck in "ghost town" type areas if they are at all well known because they've usually been hard hit. The ones that are the best are the ones you CAN'T find on the internet, as they may have not been hunted much or at all in some spots. You will have to wade through the trash and see if you can find the coins hidden. Generally, I find more artifacts than anything at these types of places, with only the occasional coin. I have a few spots that I am not done hunting yet, as clearing the trash takes some time and THEN I can hopefully find the hidden coins. You need the patience to clear out the larger trash in order to find the smaller coins and smaller relics like buttons.

Go to the "local room" in your neighborhood library. Look for old photographs and old newspapers.... even the ads in the paper. Compare the old with the current (pics). See if you can find where buildings or trees stood that are no longer standing. They may also hint of old stores no longer around. Go to the river/creek sides. People laid down along the water's edge or even swam there. Loose change fell out of pockets. LOTS of places to look that SEEM to have no connection with the present. I got permission from Randy Lee, the superintendent of the Caledonia Prison farm in Halifax County north Carolina, to hunt the grounds away from the prisoners. I found an extremely rare "coin" that was minted for prisoners (I believe from '20 to'40) so they did not have to use their own money in the slam. I found it at the riverbank where a prisoner probably took a quick dip while working and lost the token. I gave it to Randy. He returned the favor by giving me one of the keys to solitary (no longer used at the time, mid '90's). I have since lost the key. Pooh! The point I am making is think "outside the box" for some overlooked finds-not on the beaten track! TTC

 

[atomicscott]

Go to the "local room" in your neighborhood library. Look for old photographs and old newspapers.... even the ads in the paper. Compare the old with the current (pics). See if you can find where buildings or trees stood that are no longer standing. They may also hint of old stores no longer around. Go to the river/creek sides. People laid down along the water's edge or even swam there. Loose change fell out of pockets. LOTS of places to look that SEEM to have no connection with the present. I got permission from Randy Lee, the superintendent of the Caledonia Prison farm in Halifax County north Carolina, to hunt the grounds away from the prisoners. I found an extremely rare "coin" that was minted for prisoners (I believe from '20 to'40) so they did not have to use their own money in the slam. I found it at the riverbank where a prisoner probably took a quick dip while working and lost the token. I gave it to Randy. He returned the favor by giving me one of the keys to solitary (no longer used at the time, mid '90's). I have since lost the key. Pooh! The point I am making is think "outside the box" for some overlooked finds-not on the beaten track! TTC

That is some great advice Terry! Thanks for sharing