Coin Corrosion

[LuckyBeeps]

Hello, new to the forums, not sure if this has been covered?

I found several pennies today, all less than 20 years old, and 1 quarter (1999). All of these coins are badly corroded. This area I was hunting in seems to have had houses in it at one time, maybe a fire? Not sure about the area, but was wondering if there is something particular about the soil or are new coins just that junkie that the corrode quickly.

My follow up question would be that if these coins are so badly corroded, are the chances of finding older coins slim to none?

Thanks!

 

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[longsocks]

most of the pennies today are made of zinc with a wash of copper over them and after being in the ground for a few weeks they look like the surface of the moon..

 

[LuckyBeeps]

Yep, that sums up the looks of these... acutally two of them are broken. In a way, I found a couple half pennies!!! Woo Hoo!!!

 

[homefires]

Clad coins coming from salt water get killed in no time. The two metals and salt water makes a battery. The electrolysis eats there lunch.

 

[SC_hunter]

Looks like you have soil with lots of penny worms in it...darn penny worms..

 

[steve from ohio]

Hello, new to the forums, not sure if this has been covered?

I found several pennies today, all less than 20 years old, and 1 quarter (1999). All of these coins are badly corroded. This area I was hunting in seems to have had houses in it at one time, maybe a fire? Not sure about the area, but was wondering if there is something particular about the soil or are new coins just that junkie that the corrode quickly.

My follow up question would be that if these coins are so badly corroded, are the chances of finding older coins slim to none?

Thanks!

I found yesterday, a silver standing liberty quarter that was well worn but not corroded down about 3 inches at a local park. I then found a 1998 quarter about 4 inches down that was so bad that I could hardly tell what year it was.

Previous posts are correct. These coins act as little batteries that end up getting eaten up after a little while. So what I like to do is find them and then convert them to silver as soon as possible. I clean them up with a wire brush and then take them to the bank to get paper money.

I then go to the local coin shop and buy Silver Eagle dollars. Nice way to do it. It's like finding silver every day !

 

[stefen]

In addition to numerous chemicals in the soils, including water moisture content, soil has a differential Ec levels (electroconductivity) which attacks metals.

Wet and dry utility Companies use 'slave' conductors on iron and steel pipes so that the pipes are not corroded by high Ec levels.

 

[deepskyal]

Guess around here our soil ain't so bad. All my clad comes out good reguardless of the year. Maybe a little discolored, but not corroded.
Zinc on the other hand, varies from place to place, depending on how wet the ground stays.
Really wet ground, some places have underground springs and I hunt them...the zinc pennies can be fairly corroded. But in the dry grounds..they come out half decent...spendable anyhow.
Al

 

[stefen]

Water and moisture is a conductor