One of the most consistent ways to farm rare resources like Ascendent Shards and Strange Coins in Destiny is to complete the public events that pop up in the game world.
The events can sometimes be tricky to find (if you're unlucky). To counter the problem some kind souls have created a tracking site that lists the upcoming public events with only a slight margin of error (2-10 minutes).
Check out the site here, but keep in mind that it is not officially sourced by Bungie. Then again, it's a very handy way to find out where to go since it also features videos that guide you to the different locations.