July 4th (The day after)

Once every year the goose lays the golden egg. More coins and jewelry are lost on Independence day than any other. Consider that many of the celebrations will be after dark in large crowds where perhaps people have had a little too much to drink and paying no attention to their valuables. Activities run the gamut of family reunions in the park to beach parties or large bar-b-que dinners but most end with a fireworks display after dark which is sponsored by small towns or communities. Don't miss your share of the festivities but get ready for for the biggest time of your life on the morning after. It may be a little like the Oklahoma land rush because there will be a load of goodies deposited for the first person to take advantage of it.
The prime sites are places where people sat on the deep grass to watch fireworks or on the sand if it is at a beach but every park will have its share for a few hours at least. These coins will be plainly visible for the most part because they were not seen at night but in the bright sun they will be picked up if they are not detected very soon. Jewelry will be much easier to find as key activities are such things as volleyball, baseball, or soccer. The people in the home behind mine have had a large load of sand brought in and put up large posts and hired a man to create a volleyball court which cost hundreds of dollars for one day!
In preparation for the event you should pick up local papers in every little town around yours to pinpoint where 4th activities will be held. These will tell you about games and activities on the grass or loose sand where you might find coins. This will be good information for you in the year ahead because you will be able to locate parks or locations where outside parties and fireworks displays are held and when you run out of places to metal detect you can try these sites. Some of these activities have been going on in the same place for over a hundred years!
The very small towns may be great for these sites. If you are fortunate to be off work on the July 5th and want to get your share then you better get started early! I will be up at dawn and plan to hit six or seven sites before noon. I have worked on a method to cover a large area of ground in a very short time. I discovered this when our club had coin hunts, which they do every month, and when most of the coins are picked up and the heat has driven most competitors back to the shade I have room to practice my loop sweep (I call it the flying crane) where I hold the detector as far back as I can and crouch low and swing the coil from side to side taking about eight foot in each swing. This allows me to pick up a bunch of coins the others have over looked in a very short time and run my total up. I can swing the coil just touching the tops of the grass as I move around the hunting area and my detector seems to have no problem picking up coins in this mode even if the coil is moving fairly fast. This is impossible when everyone is all over the hunting area but I like it so much I use it now to sweep grassy areas in the parks. This allows me to speed up my scanning for coins and if I determine that there are not many targets available I just move on to the next site.
But methods aside it is a wonderful time to treasure hunt and you might use this time to introduce your friends or spouse to the hobby. Keep notes for next year and you will improve your coin count. Enjoy the fourth but don't miss the day after!