coin depth through time

[scoremaster]

ok i have a question guess it's kinda simple and also kinda hard at the same time with very differant angles. but here it comes

lets say a coin is dropped on the ground mistakenly not to be smashed in or whathave you .
is there a rate as to the depth that said coin will go to over a certain time frame say 5 years will it go down 2 inches .

like i said i understand that there are many things that come into play here as far as weather traffic disruption of the ground freezing and thawing dust erosion . and of course the composistion of the ground be it clay sandy soil and so on and so on .

maybe it is a dumb question as like i said alot of variables can determine what happens .
it may just be one of those things a person just can't answer as there is none .

thanks and happy hunting ,
Scott

 

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[perry2]

Hi : I think the above is a good question and wonder if anyone has set up a test plot ??
This summer I drove by a new "common" setup by a new post office // completed just 2 yrs before//
We started to detect it and took 16 clads and pennies all from 1/2" down to about 3" off about 100' x 100'
This would lead one to believe a coin can "sink" in "good" soil up to 1 1/2" per year ??

Now on the other hand I planted about 30 Quarters around the lawn by our pool 7 years ago so the kids at a family reunion gould detect them///--last summer I was teaching my 5 yr old G-son and we dug about 4 up--All were at the same depth as I put them +-1/2" So go figure // Perry

 

[Toby1858]

It all depends on how much foliage the site has and if the site has been left alone or mowed through the years. If it has a thick canopy of oaks and has never been mowed the items can be very deep. There's a flat cellar top at one of my sites. It has about a two foot dome of decay/dirt that has accumulated over the years. That tells me the surrounding area probably has about the same amount.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I've found coins from the 1800's in desert-like hard pan conditions, that might only be an inch deep. And at lush turf, we've all dug memorials 8" down, eh? So there's no one easy answer to your question, unfortunately.

 

[Stormrider51]

One of the age old discussions in metal detecting as to whether a coin actually sinks or is simply covered over. As you said, it's a complex question with many variables. I'll give an example from my area. The ground here is sandy with a LOT of rocks. The rocks vary from pebbles to the size of a man's fist. The concentration of said rocks varies as well from spots with deep sand to others with mostly rocks. I've found wheat pennies at 6" in the sandy places and barely covered with sand in the rocky ones. Finding a wheatie almost on the surface was mind boggling. I should say that this area has many oaks and elms so there is a plentiful leaf fall each year.

It will be interesting to see what others say about their experiences in different soil types.

Storm

 

[Frankn]

As mentioned above there are variables. The coin is actually covered by decaying vegetation, blowing and flowing silt, sec. It depends entirely on the enviroment in the area. Around here, coins from the 40's will be app. 4" deep. Things from 200 years ago will be app. 10" deep. This all goes out the window if, say, it is a plowed field. In eroded areas, I have found $5 gold coins under a thin layer of silt. The thing is , you never really know when the coin was lost. The date is just when it was made. Frank

 

[BosnMate]

I thought we discovered that it was all the worm's fault. That's what happens when a guy has a bad memory. Lets see, there's gravity, frost and heat, rain, floods, dust storms, leaf fall, mowing machines, rototillers and plows, mud, clay, sand, rocks, fill dirt, gophers, moles, ground squirrels, worms, and locally in the summer time there can be cracks in our clay soil that are eight plus inches deep and an inch wide, so it's possible for a coin or ring to be instantly plenty deep if it falls into a crack. What the real head scratcher is how come you can find an Indian head on the surface and a clad dime in the same location three or four inches down? For a simple guy like me, it just proves there's a God.

 

[Keppy]

Again coins do not sink they just get covered leaves grass ect, ect,...You can lay a coin on top of the ground and in 5 years if no leaves or dirt lands on it....... It will still be on the top of the ground..............

 

[shadowcat1971]

Good question! I have no rhyme or reason why coins do what they do. It's weird, I've found memorials at 4 inches where 10 feet away I found an 1889 indianhead at 1 inch. Go figure? That's why I dig everything, deep or shallow! That's what's great about medal detecting! You just never know what's down there until u dig!!

 

[Dick Stout]

I have detected for close to forty years and this question keeps coming up. My reply is "who knows?".....not worth spending a lot of time thinking about. Too many variables and we will never know the answer.

DS
www.stoutstandards.com

 

[Gold Maven]

coins are where you find 'em.

doesn't really matter how they got there.

 

[Glassdigger]

Unless you are in rocky ground anything good is going to be 6 inches or more deep 90% of the time. If I only had one shot at cherry picking a site and was limited in the amount of time I was there that's what I would concentrate on. That is unless it's a construction site or plowed field or something with disturbed ground. I usually dig the good deep signals first at any one site and work my way up to the shallower ones. That's just my angle on it.

 

[gleaner1]

You will find deep old coins and tokens and crap in areas of turf or fields that have areas of standing water, like in the springtime after the snows melt, or after heavy rains. Look for standing water in the fields. On the other hand, you will find coins on top in plain sight on sloping hillsides in the woods.