Coin Depths ?

racer117 · May 12, 2013

I went out detecting today ,and did fairly well ,considering i am learning a new to me DeLeon. I dug 4.00 in quarters at a soccer field / park , 8 dimes , 36 pennies , a piece of cut off copper tubing , a cheap gold plated necklace ,and a complete womans Michele watch (cheap). I am wondering if it is just me , but all of these coins were at the 5-6 inch depth , and it is all modern clad. I can go to another park a mile away ,and the coins are 1-3 in deep. Anybody have an idea why? I have thought of mowers running over it pushing it down ,lots of rain , or they put a layer of fill on top ?

Pi_Rat · May 12, 2013

It the growth of grass that pushes the coins deeper. provided no new dirt gets dumped on top. I'm new MD'ing realized this. Most finds are fresh dumps and will be in less than 4 inches. Older coins will probably be deeper. Just think of the ground as being a recycling center. Grass clippings and stuff on top gets build into new layers of dirt. Just look at peoples gardens that they have kept for years in the same place and dumped all their mower clippings on top of. The guy behind the house where I grew up; his garden sits at least 6 inches higher than the rest of his yard. And he will even testify that it was caused from grass clippings and not intentionally done to raise the level of his garden.

metal mania · May 13, 2013

Pi_Rat said:
It the growth of grass that pushes the coins deeper. provided no new dirt gets dumped on top. I'm new MD'ing realized this. Most finds are fresh dumps and will be in less than 4 inches. Older coins will probably be deeper. Just think of the ground as being a recycling center. Grass clippings and stuff on top gets build into new layers of dirt. Just look at peoples gardens that they have kept for years in the same place and dumped all their mower clippings on top of. The guy behind the house where I grew up; his garden sits at least 6 inches higher than the rest of his yard. And he will even testify that it was caused from grass clippings and not intentionally done to raise the level of his garden.

very interesting I wonder how much worms add to the mix when they tunnel hmm.

mical66 · May 13, 2013

the soil makes a difference also , some of our soccer fields here are sand topped and bermuda grass , so the soil will be softer and coins can move easier . i am sure alot of other things attribute also , like moisture , traffic , movement of the ground like freezes , drought ect,,
i recently did a yard and all the coins were less then 15 yrs old and they all were around 5 inches deep.

leatherneck · May 18, 2013

If your machine has a manual ground balance in all metal mode, try it. No discrimination and manual ground balance will give you the best depth with the coil you are using. Remember the larger the coil the deeper you go. Also, the DD coils are best for handling high mineralization. If there is a lot of trash or targets in your area sometimes a 5" coil is easier to use because there is less targets under it at one time. Keep your coil as close to the ground as you possibly can. If your coil can go 6" deep and you have your coil 3" off of the ground then you are only going to go 3" into the ground. Also when swinging your coil make sure that it stays the same distance from the ground from the far right to the far left. If your coil is coming up at the end of your swing you are screwing up the ground balance and not being as productive as you could be. Remember in order to cover all the ground in front of you that you must overlap 50% of the coil on the next pass. If you don't there might be a target in between where you swung last and where you are swinging now. Hope these few tips help. Have fun.

liftloop · May 19, 2013

I heard night crawlers like to hide under fifty cents pieces to get out of the rain...

liftloop

luvsdux · May 19, 2013

Soil composition, time in the ground, vegetation, frost heaves (weather) - a lot of variables effect coin depth. There's not a single answer for every location.
luvsdux

Joe hunter · May 20, 2013

liftloop said:
I heard night crawlers like to hide under fifty cents pieces to get out of the rain...

liftloop

That's why some of them taste funny

racer117 · May 20, 2013

leatherneck said:
If your machine has a manual ground balance in all metal mode, try it. No discrimination and manual ground balance will give you the best depth with the coil you are using. Remember the larger the coil the deeper you go. Also, the DD coils are best for handling high mineralization. If there is a lot of trash or targets in your area sometimes a 5" coil is easier to use because there is less targets under it at one time. Keep your coil as close to the ground as you possibly can. If your coil can go 6" deep and you have your coil 3" off of the ground then you are only going to go 3" into the ground. Also when swinging your coil make sure that it stays the same distance from the ground from the far right to the far left. If your coil is coming up at the end of your swing you are screwing up the ground balance and not being as productive as you could be. Remember in order to cover all the ground in front of you that you must overlap 50% of the coil on the next pass. If you don't there might be a target in between where you swung last and where you are swinging now. Hope these few tips help. Have fun.

Thanks for the tips Leather.im not new to detecting,just a different detector. i get plenty of depth,I have found coins with the Tesoro at 7 and 8 inches. i was just curious of diffrent depths at parks and yards.

racer117 · May 20, 2013

Joe hunter said:
That's why some of them taste funny

You just didnt season them enough.

woodstock · May 22, 2013

The deepest coins I found where at least 11" with a old Whites Coin-Master . They must have been from a small spill of 5 and they where in rich black and very very damp soil in a small town in Northern Illinois . The spill was in a area about 15 inches in diameter and on a side street curbside . They had excellent detail but where BRIGHT GREEN . Left them with my father in-law and today they still look the same . I never clean coins ... that's a no-no . My father in law tried on a few and the green seemed to keep the condition nice and once removed becomes pitted and nasty .
Like everyone has said there is no reliable way to say because there are to many variables ... HH , Woodstock