OK confess who here hunts parking lots late at night..(SHARE YOUR MODERN DAY TREASURE IDEAS )Treasure comes in many forms!!

Back before 911 I used to hunt them alot at night with a buddy of mine..

Haven't done it but a handful of times since ...but it's always a fun thing to do..especially at busy malls..

Just get permission from the security Guards or lot patrol..they usually don't care..Some Of them are lonely at night and will even talk your ear off if you let them.

Holiday season was always best and right around time school start's back..


We use the detectors since low light conditions plus as a advantage to just eyeballing..

You can really pick up alot of coins in a night and the occasional Jewelry piece..Lots of fun..Also folding money at times!

Here's a tip too at the ends of parking lots find the fences...you'd be surprised how much folding money blows into the fence..


Ok one more thing I'm working on now..
I've got permission from the car wash close to the house to get the bags out of the Vacuum cans. when the change them..Just asked one day and he said ...um....Ok... I guess...WHY???I told him why...he even said toss em back in dumpster when your done..

I want to Sift/Scan The Vacuum trash...BUT at last minute i started thinking of Pukey kids and such ((Moms stopping by car wash to vacuum up the mess))....so now Not sure I want to venture in..Maybe I need a hazmat rig...LOL..

Anyone have anything there not afraid to share???

We will keep it at just modern day treasure retrieval for NOW!!

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

State Parks here are off limits to detecting.
The most popular has 35 miles of beach that has never been detected but sees hundreds of thousands of revelers every year.
In the Winter off season I want to get a portable enclosed tent/garage/cabana type enclosure and set it up on the beach , detect inside , move to a new area and detect again , right on down the beach.
Too hard to move by myself but with an accomplice we could make the move to fresh ground in seconds,,,who's going to notice.
Haven't been able to find any adventurous takers

I've hunted parking lots before but not with a detector I would use the parking lot lights to catch the glare of the coins.lol

About 3 years back i was approached by someone who had lost a expensive ring near the play area on a local park,but in the UK parks as a general rule are totally against metal detecting and digging of holes etc,they get around this by using the old trump card of 'health and safety' so this is why we dont detect in parks or municipal areas.But this ring was only lost a few hours before so it would be just lying on the surface and we had the exact location so it would be a quick recovery.

Came up with a idea so as not too attract attention from the general public,we placed the 9'' Deus coil on its own in the bottom of a long handled carrier bag and used the WS-4 headphones under a hat,that way you can casually swing the coil over the small area in the carrier bag without drawing attention and it worked a treat,we found the ring in under 10 minutes.Did not even need to dig as it was laying on the surface.

One ring reunited with its owner using a novel detecting recovery method

In the north here detecting parking lots is like owning a cash cow!

Go to a Walmart or the like in early spring and you'll dig clad until blue in the face.

All winter people get in/out of their vehicles and drop all kinds of stuff in the snow. Tons of clad and sometimes a jewelry piece if lucky but the snow plows push all the snow to the same areas over and over all winter long so it's like shooting fish in a barrel come spring

The street sweepers for my borough all dump their tanks on the lot next to mine. I havent asked permission, but standing on the back side of them you cant be seen. dug zincolns till i was tired.. anyone wants to work it in shifts, stop on over.

I don't detect purposely for clad. If I do dig it, it goes in a drawer till it adds up to near a couple hundred,...then it goes to Rodman and comes back as green folders. I did like digging rolled dimes and pennies once, 2 separate hunts.

Wasn't there someone in Upstate NY who trained dogs to sniff out paper money?

Funny how timely this post is. I found a $20 bill laying beside my truck this morning.

I've found a wedding band in the parking lot at work. When I sent the email out stating I had found a ring and whoever could describe it could get it back, a fella come up who happened to be the husband of my supervisor who sat a couple of cubicles away, and described the ring. As I was handing it to him I said a little loud, "Here's your wedding ring you lost!" His wife stuck her head out and said, "WHAT!!!?" HA! A little bit of entertainment for a few minutes.

I always scan the parking lots as I travel through them. Never know whay you'll find. Rings, Earrings, bracelets, money. I watch a guy step on a big 14kt loop earring walking into a grocery store and never notice it. I picked it up.

Read a article in the past about a couple who walk the parking lots looking for diamonds that have fallen out of rings!

HH
Mike

I have been lucky at spotting things laying in the floor of stores. Especially around clothing racks, where all I can figure is that jewelry gets caught in the clothes fabrics as they are looking through them. I found a 1/2 karat princess cut diamond laying in the floor like that. I don't know how on earth I spotted it but I just happened to see something that caught my eye and there it was. I thought it was a CZ for the longest time. My wife found one at work and turned it in; never to see or hear from it again. She is also the master at parking lot cash finds. When at work, if I am short on a coin for getting something out of the vending machine, I will look under them for loose coins. We have one machine that is notorious for the change bouncing out of the coin return and most people are too lazy or proud to pick them up if they hit the floor so they leave them there; especially if they roll under the machine.

My mom is a lotto scratch off ticket lucky person. I could buy a pile of them and do good to win a free ticket or a couple dollars at best. She has some sort of a system; she spends no more than $10 a week on the tickets. This can come in a number of combos...she will buy five of the $2 ones, or two of the $5 ones, or one of the $10 ones. The month of December, she won $3,200 in winnings. She won a $1000 off one ticket, and had three $500 tickets, and several $100 tickets. January has been slow for her but she hasn't played much; she only has one $500 for the month so far. A guy won $5,000 off one just earlier this week at the store she buys most of hers at.

Daniel, the first thought that comes to mind is are you sure she is only buying $10 worth of tickets per week?

I'm not disparaging your mom, but gamblers who emphasize their wins while downplaying their losses are not uncommon.

$5,000 of winnings in one month while spending $10 a week means your mom will be playing with house money now for almost ten years even if she doesn't win another penny.

I would say it's just random luck but games of chance are occasionally not as random as they are supposed to be.

For instance, there have been people who have won by tracking roulette wheels to find ones that were mechanically flawed and hit certain spots more than others.

Although I wouldn't expect any scratch offs to have a positive win expectation, I wouldn't completely rule it out. And I would expect a variation in win percentage between games, just like you have between individual slot machines.

Positive expectation is rare to find in the gambling world, but on occasions it can be found if you watch for it. It helps to have a bit of mathematical acumen.

Personally, I'm not going to put out my hard earned $ buying scratch-offs. It varies from state to state, but typically the aggregate payout is at best around 70 cents on the dollar...aka a sucker bet.

Keith, I usaully only hunt parking lots, (asphalt) is in the spring when the snow is almost gone, up here we get a lot of snow and the plows push it all in the same spot every year and once you learn the pattens of the Malls, you can go there , I go early in the morning, I need lite, cant see in the dark, dirt parking lots I do when I find them , don't have to many in the city, they are fun to do, cause you never know what you will find

J&D I like the coil in the bag Idea!! And congrats on locating item!!!!

I just saw this the other day..YOU could of always opted for the Treasure sandals though for another obscurity option...LOL!!!

[www.markstechnologynews.com]

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Good feedback..good stories!!!

Check this Guy out..

OUTSIDE THE BOX

[www.youtube.com]

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Living in the Snow Belt, there edges of the parking lots are usually good places to check for $$ bills when the snow piled up from the plows melts off.


Rich

------------------------------------------------------------------

Just one more good target before I go.

marcomo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Daniel, the first thought that comes to mind is ar
> e you sure she is only buying $10 worth of tickets
> per week?
>
> I'm not disparaging your mom, but gamblers who emp
> hasize their wins while downplaying their losses a
> re not uncommon.
>
> $5,000 of winnings in one month while spending $10
> a week means your mom will be playing with house m
> oney now for almost ten years even if she doesn't
> win another penny.
>
> I would say it's just random luck but games of cha
> nce are occasionally not as random as they are sup
> posed to be.
>
> For instance, there have been people who have won
> by tracking roulette wheels to find ones that were
> mechanically flawed and hit certain spots more tha
> n others.
>
> Although I wouldn't expect any scratch offs to hav
> e a positive win expectation, I wouldn't completel
> y rule it out. And I would expect a variation in
> win percentage between games, just like you have b
> etween individual slot machines.
>
> Positive expectation is rare to find in the gambli
> ng world, but on occasions it can be found if you
> watch for it. It helps to have a bit of mathemati
> cal acumen.
>
> Personally, I'm not going to put out my hard earne
> d $ buying scratch-offs. It varies from state to
> state, but typically the aggregate payout is at be
> st around 70 cents on the dollar...aka a sucker be
> t.




There is at least one way to improve the odds on scratch offs and maybe net some money.
A friend of mine owned a startup cigarette and beer store and of course they sold lottery tickets too. He said that pretty much Everybody that buys scratch offs scratch them off right there in the store (store provides a convenient counter and some pennies). He just kept track of the winners in a roll (which contain X amount of winners) and when it got near the end of the roll that hadn't had many winners, he started buying and scratching until he scarfed up the Big Prize. Said he netted pretty good cash that way.

marcomo -- You'd just have to have known my mom to understand. She is one of those people you don't want to see enter a pot luck drawing or raffle. She can buy one ticket and win, vs the other people that will buy 20 or more tickets to increase their chances of winning. I couldn't tell you how many of those radio call in things she has won...you know, the "be caller number 20" thing. On the tickets, she plays much of the same strategy as Champ Ferguson's friend. Every row of tickets will have at least one winner in it. The key is knowing which games to play. The $2 and $5 tickets will always have at least one $100 winner in them. A lot of them will have one $500 winner in them. She works part time at a gas station and keeps tabs on the winners off each roll. If a roll has already produced a $100 or higher winner...don't buy any more off that roll. If one hasn't...keep watching it. A lot of times the winning ticket will come from the last 1/4 of the roll. The higher dollar tickets are a different story; they are very hit and miss, and mostly miss. Thus the best ones to play are the $2 and $5 ones. You more than likely wont win any of the $5,000+ prizes on those, but the $100s are very common and the $500s are next in line. Even still, she wont even buy a ticket towards the end of a roll unless she "gets a feeling about it".

My wife put her to the test one day. We stopped in the store to get some gas and went in to say hello. Mom had just scratched off one the $1,000 ticket a day or two before and my wife told her to pick out $10 of tickets for her. She did...bam...$100 on one and $20 on the other.

Those are two fascinating posts about a subject I don't know much about.

So a convenience store job can legally pay a fun bonus for an enterprising employee.

A few things come to mind.

1. These rolls of scratch offs are not truly random beyond individual rolls since the win expectation for the end of the roll is influenced by what came before.

2. Anyone who works at a convenience store with access to the redeemed winning tickets could potentially benefit handsomely by doing this.

3. How close to the end of a win deficient roll would you have to be to put you in the realm of significant positive expectation?

4. There would probably be significant variance from state to state. Some states might be completely random across the entire print run of each individual game. If so, this observation technique would be ineffective.

5. Accumulating data would be key. How many tickets in a $2 or $5 roll? How many winners in a typical roll of the various winning amounts?

6. This whole thread shows me how people who are good at detecting are usually good at finding "keepers" other ways.

7. Isn't it remarkable how US currency will catch your eye from a longgg way off?

8. I love finding those advertisements that are folded to make them like a folded $20 bill. When a bunch of them are on the ground it's fun to pick them up then scatter them somewhere else and watch.

Sorry to kind of hijack this post. It ain't detecting, but it is yet another creative way to pick up a bit of "treasure"

Marcomo -- The number of tickets on a roll differs. They usually come standard $300 per roll. So it would be 150 $2 tickets, 60 $5 tickets, etc. Some people will come in and buy the whole roll if it is new...hoping to pay $300 and win a $500 ticket. More often than not, they get $100 winner and a few smaller winners in the roll. The smarter ones will keep tabs on a roll and if it has not produced a winner yet, will buy the remainder of the roll. The problem is...there is no way for them to get 100% accurate feedback on what roll has/hasn't won from the register workers and not all the winning tickets are scratched at the store. Most are though...as the $500 or less are usually redeemed at the store within minutes of winning. The bigger prizes $1,000+ must be picked up at the bigger cities at the lotto headquarters. I rarely play them despite my mom's luck of it all. I did not inherent that ability. I could be the only person in a raffle and still not win. Haha. It's always the person before me or after me that wins.

I have been hunting parking lot dividers in public places for years.
Mostly parks and schools, not many islands in the shopping centers around me.

I have found tons of clad, in high school lots several tools, more jewelry in mostly high school and college parking lot islands than you might believe.
Not just junk either...the good stuff.
Below is just some of the silver jewelry I have found in these things, there is more, and notice the one in the gold pic, the other rings were found at the same high school islands but the one with the natural pearl found in a Jr college parking lot divider.
They stopped using natural pearls in jewelry long ago, marks were rubbed out totally from use but this ring is buttery and real soft and tests up to 22k because that acid is all I have.
I would bet you this one is really old heirloom jewelry and actual 24k.

A unique, rare maybe once in a lifetime find that came from the dirt in...a parking lot.
You just never know where treasure might be hiding.







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2017 01:40PM by diggwr27.

Keith, I own a street sweeper company. At present, we are strictly construction and paving related sweepers (big municipal sized sweepers). But in our earlier years, we had a branch of our business that did shopping centers with the small truck mounted vacuums. As such, we'd be on scores of parking lots all night long, all over the county. And yes, we'd find all sorts of stuff. We were too busy and going to fast (and too dark) to see individual coins. But I did spot currency from time to time.

But better than "coins" or "currency", was all the odd-ball stuff we'd find. Both in the parking lots and in dumpster diving (where we'd have carte-blanche to be back in their store-spaces). Every few months I'd go to the flea market and have all sorts of stuff to sell.

But I can hardly imagine this being worth anyone's time, for a dedicated reason. I mean, since we were already "driving through and walking all these lots" by virtue of our cleaning service, yet .... it wouldn't pay for someone to go driving around for no other reason than to walk around deserted parking lots, on the off-chance you'll find a dollar, or on the off-chance you'll find an un-opened 6 pack of beer, etc....

While hunting local park fella walking his dog said your in wrong area and showed me a seated half found while walking near the river..gotta have a little luck I guess.

A friends daughter found a 14k bracelet in a wal-mart parking lot. They asked me what it was worth, my calculations said she could walk out of the local gold buyer I use with $140 in her fist. She was smiles and shopping for an ipod.


HH
Mike

I was searching lawn strips in South Carolina I'm a Calif hunter...my friend invited me and boy did we find old coins, rings, keys, all sorts of cool relics. Never found so many silver coins...we must have hunted about six blocks both sides of the streets, came home about 2 in the morning.

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

marcomo, it isn't that the winners are near the end of the rolls; its that the observer pays attention and notices which rolls have them near the end. As you said, data collection is the key.

Nice!!

Mike!!

Dan!!

Low boy!!

Tom!!

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Champ Ferguson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> marcomo, it isn't that the winners are near the en
> d of the rolls; its that the observer pays attenti
> on and notices which rolls have them near the end.
> As you said, data collection is the key.



Got it. You watch for rolls of tickets that are win deficient when the roll gets low. One that hasn't shown that bigger winner yet.

Taking a side arm??

Nice Digs Congrats!!

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla