Advice

[urban miner]

Hey,

I've been reading this site for a few weeks and I thought you guys might be able to help a newbie out... I first got into detecting with my dad years ago, we primarily went to city parks and schools and found our fair share of pocket change, our oldest find being a few wheats. Like many people here, I'm more interested in the older coins and just wondered what areas you guys have had the best success in? I'm not asking for your favorite sites but what areas, in general, do you have your best finds? Private land? City land? If you detect private areas, do you typically know the person first or knock on the door and ask? I live in SE MI (Ann Arbor area) and anything of local historic significance isn't really available to search.... I was just hoping upgrade my finds a little bit so I look forward to any help you guys have.

 

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[brctom1]

Hello Urban Miner.

I am not really an authority on research, or the best places to hunt, but here is a good link to old maps for Michigan.
I am new to the hobby in that I used to be into it just for coin shooting, and dropped it for many years, and have just recently gotten back into it.

Michigan Antique Maps and Historical Atlases - Historic Map Works

The site has my county (Branch), and I am sure they have some for yours as well.
It has a nice feature on some of them called "Overlay" which places a current map over the old one so you can better judge and get your bearings.

I hope this helps !
Tom

 

[mpostma]

Hello Urban Miner,
I have had great luck on old coins by finding places that people gathered a hundred years ago. Old Parks are great if you can find parts that were used a long time ago, but not so much now. Finding old picnic groves has been a gold mine for me. Long before air conditioning people would get out of the house on hot days and gather places and eat their dinners in the shade somewhere. Pocket spills and old tootsie toys are pretty common finds.
I often find these on old plat maps, marked as someones or something grove.

Old fairgrounds that have become parks are pretty awesome too.

Never overlook wooded areas, old coins tend to be shallower and many guys only hunt fields, and mowed ones at that.

Good Luck,
Mark
Best of Luck,
Mark

 

[fistfulladirt]

There's still treasure everywhere. Last year I dug 150 year old coins in the county park, 100 y.o. silvers in newer-looking ballfields. If they say it's all been found, they don't know any better. Think outside the box. Hit the outskirts. Places that look new are hiding old. Trashy spots are the best.
Knocking on doors came easy for me but I've lost my nerve lately. That or just plain lazy. Unbelivable that someone will let a complete stranger dig holes in their yard, but once you've knocked on a few doors you get hooked.

 

[grasshopper]

Personally, I prefer to hunt on private land. For some reason I hate being in public places (like parks) where there are lots of people around. A good amount of the home sites I go to are owned by people we know, and some I have just knocked on the door. I tell them what my intentions are and usually people living in older houses are pretty interested in its history. The worst they can say is no... But like people have said, use old maps and compare them to satellite imagery from google, and look for houses that were there back in the day but now might be woods or a field. Then, it's just a matter of asking the landowner, which was tough for me at first, but like I said...the worst you'll get is a no. It also helps to expand your search area. For a while I was really confined to the town I lived in, but once I started looking places that were a little farther away I found some new sites to hunt.

 

[Michiganne]

Welcome um! When I first started I was told by a veteran MDer, "You won't find old coins unless you get your coil over old soil." Definitely ask at older homes, start with people you already know if that is easier. Old plats for your area are invaluable tools. Many old homes are long gone and now just farm fields. Once you figure out the home sites look at a current plat to determine ownership.
Then ask the local farmer for permission to hunt their fields when the crops are out. Most of the field sites are way older and you don't have all the aluminum to fight. Research has made a big difference for me. Good luck!

HH