Re: VRD - carbon dating, is it the most sensitive method?

There are very many different dating methods available. Some, like carbon dating, 
are based on radioactive decay. Others rely on other effects.

Some of the problems in using any scientific dating method are:
(1) In nearly all cases, the method is based on a specific substance or type of 
substance, and can only be used on objects that contain a reasonable amount of 
that substance. In the case of radiocarbon dating, the object must contain carbon 
that originated from a living creature.
(2) Each dating method has a particular age period for which it is most useful, 
and a typical error associated with the measurement. Radiocarbon dating is based 
on an isotope of carbon that decays with a half-life of 5730 years. That means 
that it is only really useful for objects less than about 50,000 years old. And 
even the best radiocarbon dates have an uncertainty of (realistically) about 50 
years -- more for older objects. 
(3) The "age" that the method provides is not always the age that you want to 
know. For example, if you are wanting to date a wood carving, radiocarbon dating 
would tell you not when the carving was done, but when the tree that provided the 
wood died (or more precisely, when that particular piece of wood became "dead 
wood" and stopped exchanging carbon with its surroundings).

To translate from there to the particular problem you raise: A lot depends on the 
particular type of sample that you have. To get a precise date you need quite a 
large sample, amounting to several hundred grams of carbon. Worse, the method is 
destructive, so you will not get your sample back. Normally the difference 
between 60 years ago and 10 years ago would amount to hardly enough difference in 
radiocarbon to distinguish. But there is an historical accident that might help 
your cause: atmospheric nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s raised atmospheric 
radiocarbon levels quite significantly, so there would be an abnormally large 
difference in radiocarbon levels between an object whose living material died in 
the early 40s, and one whose living material died in the late 60s.

There is a bit of information about carbon dating at Dating Stonehenge with links to other useful sites.

There are other scientific dating methods that might be used for relatively young 
dates of less than a century. I must admit to not being "up to speed" on them. 
Most interest in scientific dating refers to older material. 

I assume that the sample you are interested in is a human-made or modified 
object. Scientific techniques are not always the answer. There are usually better 
historical, cultural, or technological ways of dating younger artefacts. For 
example, the adoption of chemically different pigments or dyes, microscopic 
evidence of the use of power tools, incorporation of artificial polymer materials 
in surface coatings, quite apart from characteristic styles (and mistakes in 
trying to counterfeit older styles).