Depth of coins????

[MDnoob]

I know the answers to this question will vary greatly due to various soil conditions, etc. but I am hoping to get enough anwsers to see sort of an average response; ok...here goes:

At what depth in a normal field or lawn do you find coins which are 50+ years old?


In my yard in SW VA I find coins from the 70's at three inches. I found a jar lid from the 30's or earlier at 9". The chances of my MD detecting a coin at that depth are slim to none.

 

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[Farmercal]

I found a 1902 Barber dime (my oldest) in a park in Lubbuck, TX, in the rain, at about 7 inches. If it had not been raining all day, I doubt I would have found it.

Cal

 

[dodgers11]

I found a 1910 wheatie with my XLT at 11"

 

[skillet]

Tough Question....

Where I hunt, I look for silver to be found in the 4.5 - 6" range... but this isn't set in stone; I have found clad 6" deep and silver VERY shallow.

My oldest, a badly tarnished 1868 shield nickel, was virtually lying on the surface of the ground in a long-vacant lot where a turn-of-the century blacksmith shop used to sit.

My deepest SMALL coin was a 1953 Mexican "one Centavos" coin at 5.5-6".
May not seem too deep, but the coin is smaller than a dime. This was with my Garrett 1000 and 8.5" coil. The coin read low on the meter but repeated well. I was hunting for jewelry around a 50+ yr old swimming pool.

Machines with manual ground-balance will go deeper than my 1000 with its 'factory-set' ground balance, but on deep targets, I dig those solid signals regardless of what my ID meter says!

Best Regards,
Skillet

 

[ppratt]

I found a 50 cent piece 12 inches. deepest yet it was a walker.

 

[Doug-Iowa]

Here in Iowa the older coins can be from 1 inch to over 10 inches. The deepest coin I have personally dug was a V nickel at 9 3/4 mearsured to coin imprint in the dirt at the bottom of the hole. I know there are coins deeper than that here. My Cortes and DeLeon just aren't getting them. Silver dimews are common in the 7 to 8 inche range here. I am switching to the new Tesoro Tejon to see if I can get some of those deeper ones, that are just out of reach.

Doug-Iowa
DJs Detectors

 

[rhedden]

When searching in grassy areas (in MD, PA, NY), meaning mowed lawns, I usually find most of the silver is 4 or more inches deep. 5 or 6 inches seems common for a silver dime. My deepest find was a silver Washington quarter at 8." In the woods or on hard rocky ground, the coins are often not quite so deep. I find plenty of silver anywhere from surface finds down to about 6" in wooded areas. One memorable find was a 1914-D barber dime just laying on top of the ground.

 

[MDnoob]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I hope to get some more; please mention what type of detector you use.

 

[coinshooter]

I use a white's spectrum. Our old finds in San Diego are usually from 1/2" to 5" max with an average depth of 1.5".Water damage on the older coins in the southwest isn't as bad, but we severly lack in coins younger than about 1860.

 

[lab rat]

My CZ-20 has found silver coins in Los Angeles area parks on the surface to about 6" down. Many of these had been churned up by gophers, evidenced by the dirt piles. I suspect these were deep and therefore previously undetectable-- most of these parks are pretty thoroughly hunted, though I dug a very nice Merc at 6" that had never been disturbed.

I have also heard a report of someone with a White's XLT finding a Standing Liberty quarter along with a Buffalo nickel (stacked) at about 9".

 

[Lowbatts]

Northern Illinois, common ground mixture with Fisher CZ 7, 1923 Buffalo at 8 inches, identified and repeatable, never got any other nickel that deep that clearly id'd as a nickel. For some reason all the other buffs I get more than two inches deep read as foil. V nickels and clad do not do this. Cannot explain this.
Same park, 1916 wheat at 11 inches with a CZ 5, only other cent I dug at that depth was incorrectly id'd as iron by a White's user, but there was a nail an inch away at that depth.
Same park again, a 1940 rosie at 7 inches with the CZ 5, deepest dime I've found yet that was clearly id'd.
That said, I've found older deeper coins, the deepest a SL QRTR @ 14 inches using "iffy" id, but targets are not accurately id'd below a certain depth. This is especially true in any environment where any trash is present.
Did find a gold ear post with a amythest at 3 inches with my 1235X, but that little booger (the 1235X) finds EVERYTHING..... That's why I only use it at park playgrounds and midwestern sand beaches.

 

[Thonolan]

Here in Port Huron, MI, most of my older coins have been found at 5 to 8 inches deep. I have noticed that large coins (such as a half dollar or British penny) tend to be much shallower.

I use an old Fisher 1235-x.

 

[bulltab]

i dug an 1889 ihc at 8 inches one time,i almost quit digging. but a good thing i didnt mark