How deep and how long a find was there?

[fortaleza]

How do you judge how long a find has been in ground by how deep it was? Any thoughts? I think surface find could be today or year. One to two inches, two to three years. Three to six inches, three years and beyond.

 

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[Rothman]

There's really no way to tell that honestly. I've found quarters from the 2000's over a foot deep on ground that hasn't been turned. Sometimes this stuff just defies logic. There are just too many variables.

 

[b3y0nd3r]

How do you judge how long a find has been in ground by how deep it was? Any thoughts? I think surface find could be today or year. One to two inches, two to three years. Three to six inches, three years and beyond.

Get that thinking out of your head. I went to a park once and I was finding 1920's coins 7 inches deep. I kept passing by a zinc penny signal at two inches. Finally months later, I decided to "get that zinc out of the way". I was surprised that just under the surface, was a 1906 indian head penny just under the grass.

 

[PullTabPete]

Oldest coin I found so far an 1852 Canadian Bank Token (Pretty much like a large cent) was only 2 inches deep. I thought was going to find a 40 oz screw top when I started digging, and only a few inches away at 4 inch depth I found a clad dime.

 

[cudamark]

Yup, no way to tell for sure. I've dug zincolns a foot down and poked seated coins with my probe that were on top the ground........and vice versa. In general, yes, the older they are, the deeper, but, the site conditions will dictate what you should dig.

 

[SD51]

Agree with everything that has been said. The only coin I ever found that I know was lost in 1960 and I found it in 1998 (so 38 years in the ground) was a silver dollar. My Garrett GTA 1000 indicated it was a dollar at 6" deep and it was correct. The owner got it back which was cool since his younger brother threw it there in 1960.

 

[chub]

Very interesting topic. I hunt alot of historic sites in very low rainfall areas. Virtually all 100 year old bullet shells are about 1.5 inches. The prevailing wind, blowing sand/soil onto or off of finds plays a part, compaction, plowing, crops etc. The craziest for me is a well watered grassy park (overwatered in my opinion) where a coin can sink about 3 inches ( !) in a month or so. Top inch and a bit is grass. If the soil is full of stones also plays a part as a coin can drop between the stones or rest on one - hate digging rocky parks! There is a logic if you know all the factors....unfortunately thats usually impossible.

Chub

 

[fortaleza]

I like the way everyone thinks on the subject. Conditions of rain, wind, construction, activity make the finds where they are.

 

[Hotled]

Yep agree , yesterday found a 2015 dime at 8.5 inches, it makes no sense lol

 

[PullTabPete]

Yesterday I turned on my sprinkler system which last ran September last year and several of the sprinkler heads had an 1+ inch of grass over them already and I had to dig them out.

So things can get buried pretty quickly, I'm guessing it is faster in areas that get mowed and clipping general get mulched in.

 

[beep1971]

I've found 1000yr old coins as deep as 100yr old one's, lots of factors to consider.

 

[RustyGold]

It's always difficult to determine a coins depth vs date. I got a 1954 silver quarter at about 4"
and have found clad at eight inches in the same ground.