Will I find anything good where I live?

[Accountable42]

I live in a California suburban neighborhood that was built in 1983 and founded in 1974. I've been metal detecting in the small parks near me but i've mostly found clad dimes/quarters and memorial cents. The oldest coin i've found was a 1964 nickel. I also found a small locket key, but i'm pretty sure its just brass.

Is it possible to find silver/old coins and relics?

 

[vpnavy]

You would be surprised what you can find in a park. It is amazing what stuff visitors bring with them and drop into the grass. So, YES - it is possible.

 

[Sandman]

Remember that land was used for many things way before it was a park. So its possible you'd find anything.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

If you arent finding old trash or old shotgun shells, etc. You may want to venture on and do some research. Personally I don't touch parks that aren't at least been known to be around in the 50s. but you never know.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Tot lots often cough up wedding rings

 

[airscapes]

Sometime finding clad that adds up to spendable amounts is more satisfying than a sore arm from swinging 6 hours with nothing to show..

 

[Captain Caveman]

I hit some parks that I know likely only have clad. I like to dig stuff and new parks normally have a lot of new coins to dig. However, if you want cool old stuff, you need to do some research.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Like they say - you never know . . . but you can tip the odds by doing research.

The neighborhood was subdivided in 1974, but what happened before then? Were there carnivals, fairgrounds or a circus flat used thereabouts in the past? Grass strip airfields (airshows draw crowds)? Picnic groves used by churches or social groups? Revival tent meetings? Military "camps" or training areas? Ball-fields? Horse-tracks? Miniature golf courses? Drive-ins?

Do some digging at the library or county historical society before you start digging the soil to get better chances.

 

[WhiteTornado]

Your immediate area sounds a lot like mine. My town was incorporated in 1967 and my house was built in 1976, so this area is firmly in the "clad era". The area used to be farmland and woods, but they brought in truckloads of dirt when they changed it all to subdivisions. As such, very little chance of finding anything old that would have been there prior to the change.

That being said, I still hunt parks, schools, and tot lots around me. There's always a chance of finding good amounts of clad or even jewelry. I found my first ever item of precious metal, a sterling silver ring, in a local park just a couple of months ago. I'm starting to do research and want to hit older areas long-term, but the local spots are convenient and still worth a look, IMO. Best of luck and happy hunting.

 

[releventchair]

Dig up old maps of the area before the subdivision went in.
Compare any previous residences/business's ect. to a current map.
If a waterway exists it may have been a draw over the years.
Where was the nearest payphone in the sixties?
Same with gas stations and outdoor pop machines.
Old folks in the area may know of some history of gathering places or homes now gone.
The nearest library may be a good resource too.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

What part of CA do you live in ? Certainly there's got to be older neighborhoods older than "1983" and "1974". I'm in CA, and I find old coins all the time

Be aware that if you're in an area that's had a lot of md'rs (since the dawn of md'ing in 1960s & '70s), that it's likely the older colorful parks have been pounded to heck. Not that there's still stuff in worked out parks to still find, but you gotta be one tough cookie (and really know your machine, have the deeper seekers, etc..) to get more silver from the pounded parks. Because all the easy "gimmee" textbook silver/wheatie signals have been stripped. So get your practice first in yards that date to pre 1960s (ie.: post WWII to pre 1960 sprawl type neighborhoods). You'll start to get common silver in those yards, and then have the "ear" to tackle the stingy over-worked parks.

For relicky sites, my favorite in CA is old stage stop locations. If you can find out of the way little-publicized hard-to-find ones, you can occasionally find a virgin stage stop. And those are always good for seateds, etc... (even gold coins if you get lucky).

 

[jimzz977]

I hunt parks and just recently hunted a school found out that it was built on a old dump site my partner found a 1950 chauffeur badge so you never know and other partner found a 1863 lg cent in park tot lot

 

[TheRingFinder]

Nope