So 6 months ago, my dad gave my old phone to another family

Basically, my dad traded my old iPhone 4, and gave me a 4s then proceded to give the iPhone 4 to our friend's family member. I had all my previous contacts synced into my new phone, but about a few months ago I lost majority of my contacts; minus those that had been connected to my email. I'm guessing the person we gave my old phone to, had deleted my contacts. I know that in order to put my old contacts into my new phone my dad had to transfer it through iCloud or iTunes. I was wondering if theres anyway to retrieve my old contacts! Please help!!