If not coins then how about relics? Everything that someone owned before us which was lost is below our feet and all one needs to do is study old maps to correlate the increased probability of finding one of those lost things from long ago. It happened by chance, almost 15 years ago now, that I learned something about the area in which I live that piqued my interest. As one who metal detects for exercise versus paying for a gym membership like many do, my chosen exercise pays me back quite well too if your area is significantly historic. ;) This leads me to inform those reading this far with interest that stone tools are everywhere and one just needs to know what to look for. Some of these stone tools date back over 10,000 years so if owning/holding a coin that is a 1000 years old is exciting, put yourself in my shoes when I discover and pick up a point (arrowhead) that dates back 5000 years. Now consider the last person to touch it before it was lost and how many people that relic fed. I have found hundreds of such relics and many old coins in the last 15 years, just yesterday I went for a walk and found 2 more points. My neighbors house is going up for sale in a few weeks for anyone that is extremely hard core in this hobby.