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Kids Don't Carry Cash To School These Days. Clad Finds Suffer In The Playgrounds.

C

Critterhunter

New member
A few weeks back I hit a pea gravel playground at a school that has always been an easy way to rack up some fast clad totals. Almost no coin signals were present. At the time I assumed somebody must have beat me to the spot this time, but then a friend mentioned what is probably the real reason. A lot of kids have pre-paid lunch fees these days and so don't carry any cash on them to buy lunch. Anybody else notice a lack of clads at school playgrounds these days?
 
I've noticed the same thing..I have been running a clad route for over 2 years now, and there has been a precipitous plunge on the Fresh drops. Out of the 20 school playgrounds or so, I'd say half are void, the others are down, but still producing. Theres some older drops to be picked on the greens, but once those are gone, I dont know. Most young people are using Credit or Debit cards for purchases as well, so even though there will always be some areas good for clad, they will become fewer and not as profitable to hunt, roll in the price of silver and gold, and how lots of it has been squeezed out of the general publics hands in the last few years, and we have something to think about...modify hunting behavior is one answer. A more targeted approach based upon lots of different dynamics involving humans and their traits. I do get the majority of my dollar coins out of the totlots, as well as 2 of the 4 JFK halfs so far this year, several silver rings, and one little gold one. Once Summer hits, its sweeping fast and early festivals, fairs, and beaches for me.
 
Nope. All of them around here are gated and locked. But what you suggest makes sense. Add to it the increasing number of detectorists competing for the drops. But, it is still fun.
 
I think changing your clad hunts to more productive current spots would be in order. For instance, I bet cash money is still the prefered way to pay at things like concession stands in parks and at sporting events.
 
I focus mostly on gold jewelry so it doesn't bother me if there is less clad so long as the trash and gold are still to be found. But, I have encountered several totlots in promising locations that didn't hold much clad. Most of the coins have been buried for awhile but were still shallow. Hard to come to any accurate conclusion with so many variables: diminishing number of coins lost, not as trafficked as it once was with more kids playing video games than getting outdoors, perhaps a sloppy detectorist who missed some coins, parents cutting kids' allowances with the economy... who knows? I do expect more hunting pressure as the hobby grows, but that won't stop me from enjoying it.
 
I have noticed that my coin counts are way down also in these areas.... I could keep going back week after week and find just as much as the previous hunts and do well.
I was wondering if they have some sort of prepaid lunch card or something along that order.
Now I know why I haven't had the success that I had as little as 3 or 4 years ago.
Felix
 
Yup! The lunches at the public schools around here are prepaid. No vending machines either so no need for change. When I drive by the schools and see all the kids out on the playgrounds I just imagine all the coins raining down. But there is hardly anything there. A few stray coins and sometimes costume jewelry or on occasion something sterling. I have been thinking that most of the coins I do find come from kids and adults using the school playgrounds after hours and on weekends.

I was detecting at a high school last fall and was approached by an elderly lady. She asked if I was doing any good which I wasn't. She said "You know these kids today don't carry money. They use prepaid cards to buy lunch now". She told me that she and her husband used to walk the school parking lots and picked up a fair amount of change on Saturday mornings. But not these days. At first I thought she was trying to discourage me so I would go somewhere else but maybe she was on to something.

A lot of the newer playgrounds have the soft rubber mats now instead of woodchips, sand, or gravel. I almost never find anything at them. Sometimes I can pick up a few coins around the edges of the mat but they seem to be mostly pennies these days.
 
Not only at the schools and tot lots. I think it's a combination of increased detectorist pressure and a slow economy (I can't find what wasn't lost 'cuz it was already sold to some gold rip-off outfit). Clad, too. One of my favorite parks was ALWAYS good for at least $10 in quarters for a two hour hunt---not anymore. You can still find the quarters, but it's likely to take twice as long...and most of the coins are four or five inches deep -- not the surface finds that used to be so easy...
 
The walking ATM's that drop coins are there, you just got to wait for them to drop that change to re-seed the place.

I have in the last 2 years found over $1800.00 in change (clad) from school fields and parks that are local to me.
 
I dont think kids play outside as much these days, dont carry change because its so worthless and they are driven everywhere. We will have to start detecting inside mini vans! However, I did run into a little kid who was very interested in my detecting. He asked what I was looking for and I told him 'coins' . Then, from his pocket, he pulled out about 8 new half dollars! Go figure. HH. Matt
 
Anyone found a 'kids' debit card in the tot lots.:rofl: Most will think I'm kidding, but in my community I know it's just a matter of time until I find one belonging to an 8 year old. It's the way they get their 'weekly allowance'.
 
OK, this is from todays clad hunt at a school.

There is a total of $15.20 and a small siver ring.
 
Another probable reason is that many kids are getting free lunches nowadays. At my school hardly anyone pays the $2.75 (other than me :rolleyes:), with many paying the $.40, and many more getting it for nothing. Many of these kids may not have the money for lunch, but they sure do have the $5+ for snacks everyday. There is definitely a lot of money at my hs.
 
Yep the count on clads are low here to!
 
I have found a decline in the amount of change found in certain places, but sometimes find if I frequent the same place again and take more time working over a small area tightening my swings, using a different detector or different settings I find things I have missed or others have missed or have been dropped recently. I try to find virgin sites through research. I also think this might be the summer when I ask more private property owners permission to detect.
 
WOW $1800.00 bucks? Now that is money in the bank lol That is something I am going to focus on this year myself: Clad.


BH_Landstar_ said:
The walking ATM's that drop coins are there, you just got to wait for them to drop that change to re-seed the place.

I have in the last 2 years found over $1800.00 in change (clad) from school fields and parks that are local to me.
Click to expand...
 
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