Old 'Drive in theater'

[RTR]

I'll bet metal detecting a (old 50s-60s) abandoned drive - in theater would be a good spot
People walking around in the dark(half tanked) to the refreshment stand.They have to of dropped their silver change,on the ground.
I know for a fact, back then I didn't care squat about change.I probably dropped many silver dimes/quarters @ the drive-in.And a few Budweiser's

 

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[Jason in Enid]

If by "good spot" you mean "garbage filled cess pit", you would be right. I have been to a few. The ground is literally a carpet of crowncaps and pulltabs, and 99% of them were paved. You would be better off wish a shovel and a screen because a detector is just about useless.

 

[Loco-Digger]

Many drive ins had play areas below the screen where kids played. I'd hit that spot first and would definitely use a sniper coil.

 

[RTR]

We had 3 drive-ins w/in 10 miles of where I lived & None were paved.

 

[digging440yrs]

Still have 1 here, lots of grass area's . We take the kids 2 or 3 times a year

 

[RudyT]

I agree we used to have on that wasn’t paved unfortunately they tore it down and built apartments there. It probably would of been a good place to look. Good luck!

 

[searching 4]

used to be 2 locally , now they have become a Walmart and Lowes along with several other stores...I always thought it would be an ok place to MD but not here

 

[RW]

If by "good spot" you mean "garbage filled cess pit", you would be right. I have been to a few. The ground is literally a carpet of crowncaps and pulltabs, and 99% of them were paved. You would be better off wish a shovel and a screen because a detector is just about useless.

Hilarious that was exactly my experience as well. An overlapping carpet of tabs and caps by the concession area. Parking and screen area had been built on. Even so with the sea of trash, I would detect another old drive-in if I had the opportunity.

 

[Carolina Tom]

We had one, but it was gravel paved, and extremely hard to dig. Lots of trash too.

I hope that yours is better. GL!

 

[Ogre1190]

My Mentor and I found one back in the early 80s. Closed down, unpaved. Owner told us to have a ball. It was tough...but once we got those old Blue Box Whites tuned in properly, it ended up being pretty profitable. Surprisingly few tabs...but enough caps to build a Buick! 😂

 

[b3y0nd3r]

With permission, my father and I just hit one over the summer. It was sniped many times before, but we found about a dozen silvers lots of clad and I got really lucky and found...a large cent?

But the trash? You may have heard of the term, "machine gun iron". This was "machine gun aluminum". There were so many tabs you can see piles on the surface. Crown caps, bits of foil, chunks of metal from the speakers plus, there were stubble from thick bushes to contend with. But still, it was some fun.

 

[RTR]

Here at the lake we had one.Grass no pavement.And 3 years ago it caught fire.Nothing but weeds now

 

[cudamark]

I hunted just one of those.....gravel lot with a grass playground area. The good was the playground area right in front of the screen. Everywhere else was miserable. I did find lots of silver and wheats, but, they were all beat up and/or bent from being run over for decades. TONS of tabs and caps and other foil crap. I'd probably hunt another, but, wouldn't really look forward to it too much. In a gravel lot like this one, I'd wait until after a good rain and bring a good set of digging tools.

 

[pepperj]

Had one growing up, then in my spent youth/teenage days it was the party centre for Friday/Saturday nights. The drive inn closed and we decided it was time to clean it out of it's riches We found a few coins but the amount of beer that must been consumed at that location was crazy.
Now it's a throw up what had more trash the drive inn or under the bleachers of the local fair grounds.

 

[RTR]

Had one growing up, then in my spent youth/teenage days it was the party centre for Friday/Saturday nights. The drive inn closed and we decided it was time to clean it out of it's riches We found a few coins but the amount of beer that must been consumed at that location was crazy.
Now it's a throw up what had more trash the drive inn or under the bleachers of the local fair grounds.

Do I know you ? LOL

 

[against the wind]

Unless you find one that had grassy areas around the edge of the parking field, that hasn't been touched by modern metal detectors, I imagine you will be hunting a bottle cap carpet.

 

[Loco-Digger]

Make sure you bring an ice pick or a screwdriver since your digging tool will be useless in compacted gravel. I run into the same thing when I hunt flea markets.

 

[Sandancer]

Have hunted one many times. One of my favorite spots but most challenging. All past comments are right on. I suggest a very small sniper coil with good separation. Found silver, big and small, toys, tokens, ect.

 

[Mikebk03]

My little town had one, but now its a cemetary! Wouldn't dare go detect there lol!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Old drive in theaters are very good for finding coins, but they are full of modern trash (pull tabs, foil, screw tops...etc.). The key is a small coil, work slow and choose wisely the hunting areas.

GL & HH