How deep down, and how old? Rate of cover-up

[UncleVinnys]

OK, a question for the folks with experience . . .

Is there any relationship to how old a coin is and how deep it is in the ground?
You would think that the older coins would be deeper, but I'm finding
that is not always the case.
What is your experience??

Related to that: Can you estimate how much debris builds up over 1 year?
Over 10 years?
I expect it would vary by region, weather, vegetation, soil type, etc.
What's your take on this?

Besides coins, I am interested in finding meteorites, and I am wondering
how many years after they fall that they can be retrieved before they
rust and disintegrate.

Thanks in advance. My experience here on the forum is that there
is a wealth of information from friendly and knowledgeable people, so
I appreciate your help.

 

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[thompy]

this has been gone over,to many variables, coins in town here down2-3 in. from 1860s, could hit the woods with plenty of pine trees 7-8 in. hit the marshy areas pulling old shot gun cassings to 1 ft. to many variables

 

[RON (PA)]

This depends on a lot of factors such as wind, amount of dropped vegetation, soil type, and even the amount of earthworms in the soil. Charles Darwin figured out that without any new addition to the soil (no leaves and no addition soil) that an object would sink 0.22 inches/year. This is just based on the activity of the earthworms below (The formation of vegetable mould by the action of earthworms by Charles Darwin).

So lets answer the question about depth and ten years.

0.22 in/yr x 10 yrs. = 2.2 inches (not bad for an animal that is blind and has no arms or legs.)

Hope it helps.

 

[Shortstack]

Disregard the old idea that frost heaves affect the depth of coins and jewelry items. It is wrong ! The main action that buries coins / jewelry deeper is when someone brings in fill soil and / or new sod (rolls of grass for installing fresh landscaping. I've lost count of the old coins that I've found at 3 inches and less. My oldest coin, so far, is an 1888 Indian Head penny that came up from the root zone of the grass in the old yard. That yard had never been filled or re-sodded. About 3 feet away was a Barber dime; also in the root zone.

If you evaluate the area you're hunting for signs of filling and re-sodding, you can get a pretty good idea of the potential depth (or shallowness) of goodies and can adjust your search techniques.

About the frost heaves angle---I was finding coins in the 1920s in the root zone areas, too, in Fairbanks, Alaska, following the "fill / no-fill" guidelines. As a historical note---When Fairbanks was nothing but a riverport and supply point at the beginning of the Alaska gold rush, no PENNIES and NICKLES were shipped into the area because the costs of bringing them in was more than their worth. So, don't expect coins from that era to be smaller denominations than dimes. Pennies and nickles were practically nonexistent, but GOLD coins were pretty plentiful; as well as silver dollars.