HOW TO - Find Coins Quickly at Playgrounds and Parks

d3t3ctr0n

Sr. Member
Apr 17, 2013
288
339
Texas U.S.A.
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 400
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Greetings. I am new to metal detecting, but I'd like to share some of the things I have learned in my time using a Metal Detector. I am a Coin Shooter and as such I want to find coins as quickly and efficiently as possible. With that said, here are some tips for helping beginner detectorists score that first coin.

1. Make sure you have your Metal Detector set properly for coin shooting. I use the Bounty Hunter Tracker IV. I have it set for Disk Mode and discrimator set to 3/4 or 3 o'clock position. According to the Manual, this is the correct setting for Coin Shooting.

2. Hit your local Elementary School Playgrounds or City Park Playgrounds. Most are now covered with wood chips, which makes it easy to dig and find those coins.

3. Watch out for false signals! Most playgrounds have metal swings and bars. This can fool your metal detector, so be aware as you sweep your coil, don't be fooled by the metal bars.

4. Solid tones usually mean that the coin(s) is close to the surface, so just sweep your hand to clear away the sawdust or dirt and you should find the coin(s) quickly.

5. Be sure to wear knee pads when stooping down to pickup a coin. This will minimize the wear and tear on your legs. Beleive me, if you don't you will pay for it later.

6. Carry a small garden shovel and bag to carry your booty.

7. Be aware, at playgrounds and parks your likely to find mostly clad coins. So don't be discouraged. This is good experience and will better prepare you for when you hit those really good spots. Be familair with your metal detector and its proper operation and you will have a much more fullfilling hunt.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
 

xr7ator

Gold Member
Sep 2, 2011
5,193
7,188
Denver, Colorado
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, AT Gold, ATX, MH7 (oldie!) Minelab Explorer SE Pro, EQ800
I have been coin shooting since 1983. I don't wear knee pads because I literally just stoop to dig a target. My knees never hit the ground.
Other than that, looks like good advice, however, how many pieces of jewelry are you finding? You may want to pay attention to your descrim levels. A gold ring is almost a perfect pull tab hit.
I am only at 5 silver coins for this year but I have three gold rings so I am a happy hunter! HH everyone.
 

G.A.P.metal

Gold Member
Jul 5, 2010
6,468
7,387
"Kan-a-we-o-la" Head on a Pole N.Y. Seneca Territo
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Deus, 11" Low Freq. , 9" X35 Coils, MI 6 Pointer...
Land or Sea Pointer
King Of Spades 40" KS-D SA and 40" KS-S-SA
L
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Heck i`v been digging for 44 years... knees are in great shape...but i`m feeble now.. been out in the sun to long.. and can`t remember where i put the coins/goodies i do find!!
Gary
 

OP
OP
d3t3ctr0n

d3t3ctr0n

Sr. Member
Apr 17, 2013
288
339
Texas U.S.A.
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 400
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
What would be a good setting for the Tracker to find Gold anything?
 

Back-of-the-boat

Gold Member
Apr 18, 2013
6,887
8,508
California
Detector(s) used
AT GOLD/Garrett /C.Scope cs4PI/Garrett(carrot) pro pointer/ 5x8 double d coil and sniper coil/Lesche digger/Lesche "T" handle shovel.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
One other note would be use plastic scoop, a lot of the city parks have hypes. I myself have found needles and razor blades also nails planted point up.There are some sick people in this world.
 

OP
OP
d3t3ctr0n

d3t3ctr0n

Sr. Member
Apr 17, 2013
288
339
Texas U.S.A.
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 400
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Yeah Steve I have already run into a piece of stiff wire sticking out of a playground. Luckily I didn't get stuck.
 

nickle and dime

Tenderfoot
Mar 3, 2013
5
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
That's why I mainly detect on beaches,however you still run inti needles at times. Please be careful!
 

Produce Guy

Bronze Member
Dec 17, 2008
2,131
519
austin,texas
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace250,garrett pro-pointer,AT/Pro,
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Lets not forget about glass,I've found alott of brown & green glass,I guess beer & wine bottles.:dontknow:
 

dieselram94

Gold Member
Jun 17, 2011
9,174
6,675
Mid Coast Maine
Detector(s) used
Xterra 705, Tesoro Sand Shark, Garrett Pro Pointer (mine). Fisher F2 my son's
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
One other note would be use plastic scoop, a lot of the city parks have hypes. I myself have found needles and razor blades also nails planted point up.There are some sick people in this world.
Yup, sickos. Just today at a local playground in town I found a used condom (fresh) just laying out there waiting for a young kid to pick it up. Needless to say I got the long handled shovel and properly disposed of it. I would like to punch the idiots in the face who left it there. Sickos.
 

Bum Luck

Silver Member
May 24, 2008
3,482
1,282
Wisconsin
Detector(s) used
Teknetics T2SE, GARRETT GTI 2500, Garrett Infinium
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Yup, sickos. Just today at a local playground in town I found a used condom (fresh) just laying out there waiting for a young kid to pick it up. Needless to say I got the long handled shovel and properly disposed of it. I would like to punch the idiots in the face who left it there. Sickos.

Yuk.
 

NCHunter

Tenderfoot
Jun 29, 2013
6
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett GTI 1500
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
These are all great tips for sure. I just started hunting as well and it seems like all the parks around me covered in that recycled material and not sand or wood chips anymore. It really makes it hard to find coins :(
 

Nickleanddime

Hero Member
Jul 21, 2013
742
252
a, ohio
Detector(s) used
A $10 garage sale find.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Yeah gotta watch how much you disk out. I'm lucky with my md it's a cheapy from best buy that I got on a GS stop. It only picks up coins, silver, gold, and aluminum/copper. No other junk unless its a huge peice of steel. I've never had any luck at toy lots or playgrounds but I do great in other areas. Well good luck out there.
 

Produce Guy

Bronze Member
Dec 17, 2008
2,131
519
austin,texas
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace250,garrett pro-pointer,AT/Pro,
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I love tot-lots 'cause you'll never know what you might find,today I found $1.95 in clad and a 14k gold ring(a first for me),and asstd. junk,pull tabs ,can slaw and bobby pins.The one thing you might ought to know is that some tot-lots started out as gravel and then to make them safer they put down black landscape fabric down on top of the gravel and filled it in with some kind of wood chips,bark,etc. This is a good idea,except for the fact that they use big metal staples which show up as quarters or dimes on most detectors.If the tot-lot is at a school,try detecting around the outside of the tot-lot too.
 

dieselram94

Gold Member
Jun 17, 2011
9,174
6,675
Mid Coast Maine
Detector(s) used
Xterra 705, Tesoro Sand Shark, Garrett Pro Pointer (mine). Fisher F2 my son's
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I love tot-lots 'cause you'll never know what you might find,today I found $1.95 in clad and a 14k gold ring(a first for me),and asstd. junk,pull tabs ,can slaw and bobby pins.The one thing you might ought to know is that some tot-lots started out as gravel and then to make them safer they put down black landscape fabric down on top of the gravel and filled it in with some kind of wood chips,bark,etc. This is a good idea,except for the fact that they use big metal staples which show up as quarters or dimes on most detectors.If the tot-lot is at a school,try detecting around the outside of the tot-lot too.

Congrats on the ring!

Sent from my SCH-R930 using Tapatalk 2
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Discussions

Top