Best Places To Metal Detect for Old Coins

Best Places to Metal Detect for Old Coins

If you want to have your own collection of old coins, you can try metal detecting for some in your area.

To do this, you would want to know exactly where you have the highest chance of finding them.

You can’t just pick a spot and expect to detect old coins there. Instead, think of the possible places where to find old coins in the ground.

1. Historic Homes

Historic homes would be a good start when hunting for gold coins.

If there are old houses or old places in your city where you can metal detect, it is better to go to these sites and bring your detector.

Look for old homes that were built around the 1900s or 1800s, if possible. These places would have higher chances of having old coins, mainly the lawn or grounds around them.

Go around the lawn around the house, and you might find a few coins or precious metals.

Still, keep in mind that these places usually require permission. You can’t go inside and hunt old coins without asking the owners for permission.

Ask around the area if they know the owner of the house and make sure that you ask them directly for permission.

2. Torn-Down House Sites

This is a bit tricky because you have to do some research on specific places in your area.

Since you are looking at spots where old houses once stood, you need to check the history of these places.

You can check the vacant lots near your house and see if there is any history of homes being built in that specific area.

If there aren’t many treasure hunters in your area, there is a big chance that you can get a big haul on these torn-down house sites.

Alternatively, you can ask around for old schools in your city and where they are previously located.

Check out these areas if they are already abandoned or if they have been renovated. You might find a few old coins there or relics to sell for a fair amount of cash.

If the area is private property, ask for permission first to avoid any legal repercussions.

3. Old Churches

Most churches are very old, and many of them have been renovated multiple times already. There are also places where old churches once stood.

These places are one of the best spots to hunt for old coins.

It’s easy to get permission if the area is already a vacant lot. If there is still a church there, there is a chance that they will not agree to your request.

You can always try if you want, but never hunt coins on private properties if you don’t have a permit.

4. Old Parks

The parks in your area can be an excellent place to look for old coins.

Do some research about the parks near you and check the exact time when they were established. Look for old parks in the 1900s or 1800s.

Again, you have to check the rules of the park before you go there with your metal detector.

There are parks where treasure hunting is forbidden, so ask first before you go there and metal detect.

5. River Beds

If you want to know where to find old coins, try the shallow rivers in your area and start searching on the river beds.

You need a metal detector with waterproof features, so you can submerge the search coil in the water.

Only try this on shallow waters because the search coil is the only waterproof part of the detector.

How To Find Old Coins Metal Detecting?

We’ve already talked about the best places to look for old coins, so the next step is to learn how to use your metal detector to look for old coins.

You should know that your metal detectors, by default, will search for all types of metals on the ground.

Hence, you have to adjust the settings if you specifically want to hunt old coins.

1. Bench Test Your Metal Detector

Your metal detectors will provide a specific type of feedback, depending on the type of coin you are looking for.

Bench test your detector and use coins so that you can get used to the type of feedback signal that it produces.

This is very important if you want to avoid digging junk targets. Also, it would allow you to configure the settings of your metal detector accurately.

2. Coin Depth Indicator

Most of the new metal detectors meant for coin shooting comes with a coin depth indicator.

It is a standard feature for most detectors, so you should understand how to use and adjust them.

Standard metal detectors have a coin depth of two to eight inches.

They are often separated into different levels to help you figure out the depth of the coin that the detector found.

Then again, this is not accurate. The coin depth feature only gives you an estimate on the depth of the coin.

The best way to determine its depth is to find the exact location and dig it out.

Metal detectors that can detect a coin depth of more than eight inches are more expensive.

3. Audio Feedback

The audio feedback is a very important feature of metal detectors that would tell you if you found an old coin or not.

Metal detectors produce different tones depending on the type of metal that you found. You can start by familiarizing yourself with the different tones.

We already mentioned that you should bench test your metal detectors.

After doing so, you still need to test it out on the hunting grounds to get a feel of the feedback from your detectors.

As you get familiar with your device, you can easily guess the type of coin you’ve found just by the tone feedback.

You should also know that different models have different audio feedback, so you should focus on a single model until you become familiar with the tones.

4. Discriminate Everything Except Coins

Coin shooting takes a lot of time since there is no assurance that you can find old coins in a specific area.

Instead of targeting all metals, focus on the coins so that you won’t waste a lot of time. You can adjust the discrimination setting of your metal detector to focus on coins.

There are models where you can discriminate individual items and select the things that you want to target.

5. Sensitivity

You need to adjust the sensitivity of the metal detector based on the type of ground where you are searching for old coins.

If the sensitivity is high, you will find all of the metals on the ground, including the junk items that are not worth anything. If it’s too low, you might lose your targets.

Play around with your metal detector and experiment until you get the right sensitivity.

6. Ground Balance

There are minerals in the ground that may affect your treasure hunting.

The mineral concentration on the ground might mask small targets, like coins, so it would be tough for you to find them.

Ground balance is a type of setting that would increase the detection depth of your detector on mineralized ground.

Most metal detectors come with an automatic ground balancing feature, which means that they would adjust ground balance based on the hunting ground.

You can also go for a manual ground balance if you already know how to adjust the settings correctly.

Where to Find Old Coins in the Ground?

Once you’ve figured out the places where you can find old coins, and you already know how to use your metal detector for coin shooting, the last step is to go to the location and try searching for old coins.

Here are a few simple tips when searching for old coins.

1. Use a Pinpointer

Although your metal detector can help you find old coins, a pinpointer will help you find the coins accurately.

It is made to supplement a metal detector and is a perfect device when searching for small targets, like coins.

Using a pinpointer can help you save more time and effort, allowing you to cover a larger area in less time.

2. Always Double Check the Holes

Most people leave the holes that they dug soon after finding a coin.

One common practice when metal detecting is that you should never leave your holes unchecked.

Instead, make sure there are no more coins before moving on to another spot.

This is one of the most important rules when coin shooting because your metal detector will not tell you how many coins you can find in a single location.

Once you find an old coin, continue digging or dig around the hole, and you might find a few more coins hidden there.

3. Check the Dates from the Coins

If you found old coins in a specific area, check the date immediately. This would tell you if you have a chance of finding silver coins around that same spot.

If you are in a park and can only find newer coins, it means that there is little chance of finding silver coins.

If you found coins dating back from the early 1900s, you should continue your search as you have a bigger chance of getting silver coins.

4. Do a Systematic Search

Record the places where you finished searching for old coins before you proceed to other areas.

It will be a waste of time to metal detect in a specific spot when, in fact, you’re already done exploring there.

If the place is a bit large, focus on a single spot and move to another one the next day.

Where to Find Old Coins

Searching for old coins is a fun activity, but it requires patience and dedication.

You might find old places to hunt for old coins, but there is a chance that you won’t even find a single coin there.

There’s never a guarantee when it comes to metal detecting, but don’t lose hope just yet.

As long as you know how to tweak your device, you know the best places to metal detect for old coins, and you are dedicated enough to go around the area to explore, you will eventually come across old and rare finds.