What locator says is true. I got into this in the mid 1970s. And at the time, it was child's play to go out and get wheaties, and the occasional silver. From the obvious parks, school yards, etc..... I remember when our downtown central park was the "training ground" for anyone who just bought a machine from the local dealer, for example. And it wouldn't be unusual, for the person to bag a silver or a wheatie on his very first training trip with a mentor showing him the ropes. But now..... 30 to 35 yrs. later, pity-the-poor beginner who goes to this same exact park, and expects to find oldies. Even with today's wonderfully advanced machines, you have to be ONE TOUGH GOOD cookie to pull any more silver from amidst the sea of modern junk, tabs, foil, zinc, etc... there now. There are still parks and schools that give up silver. Some more difficult than others, while some might still afford "4 star easy silver/wheaties" type signals. It'll depend on the amount of detector traffic in your locale, in the last 40 yrs., as to how hard-hit the "obvious spots" are.
So sometimes I travel to other parts of my state to get to parks that aren't as junked out or hard hit now. And exotic things like oldtown urban demolition sites, old-town sidewalk ripouts, country stage stop sites which are long gone, ruinsy type relicky spots, beach storm erosion, etc.. Still lots of places to get silver, even if your parks in your area are lame.
But if none of the other type venues are available to you, another "last frontier" you can try: Is yards of old homes. Don't rush off the oldest grandest yards at first. Instead, content yourself with 1920s to '40s-ish type yards. They're old enough to have silver, and are a good training ground. Once you're proficient there, THEN graduate up to the harder-too-work sites, yards, etc..... As for your own yard (blt. 1940s) not having any old coins, well that's either because a) maybe your particular yard just doesn't happen to be good. Yards are "hit & miss" afterall, depending on yester-year who-lived-there. Or b) that you're not doing something right. Ie.: that you're not getting deep enough. Is there any locals in your area who rountinely find oldies? If so, perhaps you can buddy up with them. Have them flag a few un-dug deepie turf signals that they would say are potentially deeper wheatie/silver type signals. Go over the flagged signal with all different settings. Watch the way they swing. Listen to what they're trying to isolate, etc....
