10 Secret Coin Hunting Spots for Metal Detectors

Treasure hunters with metal detectors aren't all looking for buried pirate treasure or caches of bank loot. More often than not, they are finding coins, jewelry, and other odd, valuable items all over the United States.

The coins are rarely doubloons or early American coinage. What are most often sought are coins that have fallen out of people's pockets and they mount up. Not that some older stuff won't turn up. That's great. Not only is there collectible value for many older coins but there's the metal content. Dimes minted before 1965, for example, were all silver and dealers who sell silver in small amounts to investors wanting to stash some in a safe deposit box often provide rolls of these old dimes.

But how do you compete with people by the thousands buying metal detectors thanks to TV commercials?

Here are some tips that will send you off in some creative and money-making directions, no matter where you live. (By the way, as always, keep in mind that if you go on private property, you need permission of the owner.)

Beach. Even if you live in the central part of the United States, there are certainly lakes and rivers with public beaches in the area. Carefully check the beach. If you have a model that can be used in water, check out the shallows, and if you can, the slightly too-deep water where lost valuables stay lost and where no one else has been in before you.

Fairgrounds. Where does the circus set up camp when it visits town? Where is the weekly farmers market held? The county fair? Where are outdoor craft and art fairs held? Under what tree do the young people in town or local beer guzzlers hang out? Check these sites out not just once, but regularly since they are in common use.

School Grounds. Where was the school before it wound up where it is now?

Ditches. At the edge of town where a concrete culvert gives way to a mud ditch, check where the concrete empties into the mud.

Swimming Hole. Not today's popular swimming spots, but the ones that used to be popular in grandpa's day.

Fishing Holes. Again, where did people in grandpa's day fish?

Buildings Down Due to Storms, Fire. Get permission to check these places out. If a house has been bulldozed, check the site.

Railroad Bridges. Check each end of the bridge and find where the workers who built the bridge camped.

Parking Meters. Have parking meters been removed in your town? Does the spot remain un-concreted? Check it for coins.

Overlooked Parks. Look for the small parks people have pretty much abandoned. The trick is to do a quick check of such parks to see is they have been thoroughly searched by metal detector. If not, you could find a lot of great coins. And the nice thing is, parks are public land.

This should give your treasure-hunting a jump start.