Look to the trees
The trees will help you find relics and coins
The pioneers that built homes (especially in warmer climes) always saw the need for shade. This was not to
be had very easy in many of the flat plains which had unbearable humidity and summertime heat. It seems
that most planted two or three faster growing trees (ash, sycamore, elm, or pine) and one oak tree. It appears
to me that they wanted the oak for their old age perhaps but I have not seen many sites which did not have
one. These trees can be seen along the highways and backroads with no trace of home left to be seen. Often
accessible and available to look at I suggest a quick scan for iron objects (nails, hinges, Etc.) and if they are
there I would try to locate the owner of the land and obtain permission to search it. These sites can be very productive as relic sites, and the trash dumps which are generally pits not far from the house can be located
very easy which produce collectable bottles. If coins can be found they will certainly be a quick way to date
the homesite and may be interesting finds. Remember that these folk didn't have banks and were plagued by raiders and indians. They would bury their money near the house where you should look under stones, around the base of the trees, and scan any fireplace that may be left. Often these coins would be gold.
Search for nut trees like pecan which are repeatedly searched for nuts only!
Some nut trees are very old and people have been stooped over gathering nuts for generations. The area below
the tree is likely to be covered with leaves which make it difficult for people to recover anything that they drop.
These areas are likely to be productive for older coins and are ignored by almost all coinshooters that are only
interested in what they can find in the children's play pens. You have to stop following the rest of the crowd and
spend time researching and picturing the older generations as they went about their business and play.
