Gold Coins-Do they settle deeper than silver and copper??? What is your deepest?

[Slingshot]

I have never found a gold coin, but my experience with finding coins from the era that the gold one's circulated in leads me to believe that due to different factors coins move both up and down during their sojourn in the ground. Factors involved would include meteoritic dust deposits, vegetable matter decay, soil deposits from erosion, ground heaving from cold, tree roots forcing coins back to surface, animal and insect activity, and others I can't think of at the moment. I have seen gold coins found and they were at the same depth as the other coins from that era in those areas adjacent to their locations. When I actively pursued Civil War relics I was always puzzled by surface find minie balls in the areas where others were nearly a foot deep, all dropped rounds, and in places where no agriculture was practiced after the war had taken place?? I think the old saying "Gold is where you find it" is appropriate, and applies to old coins also, as they can appear anywhere from the surface to as deep as you can detect. So don't neglect those shallow coins as you might get a real nice surprise as I have many times.

 

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[foiler]

May I refer you to my answer to a similar question posted on Nov 7 by 49er12 "Depth of what's under the ground".

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

May I refer you to my answer to a similar question posted on Nov 7 by 49er12 "Depth of what's under the ground".

Nope. This is TreasureNet. You can't expect us to go digging around for old stuff. Cut and paste or it never happened.

 

[Limitool]

From what I can tell they get up and leave.

I have yet to find a gold coin.

Well that makes me feel better Charlie... I now realize I'm not alone.

I know we're talking about coins but here in Middle TN. it's like digging in granite around here. I still can't understand how these old horseshoes get down to 4"-7" deep...? And to tell ya the truth I've had "hits" showing the same VDI number as dug shoes down to 12"+. I couldn't imagine how hard that would be to dig up.

 

[mick56]

I think we should petition the government to do a study on this. Set up various coins, on various types of soil, with a time lapse camera. Maybe take one pic every day at the same time. Then we can view the results after 50 years, and again after 100 years. Then we will know for sure just how coins get down in the soil.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

From what I can tell they get up and leave.

I have yet to find a gold coin.

Yep! Ditto.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Back to original question - I don't think gold sinks deeper or faster. I think coins stay in place and the soil builds up over them; so composition or weight doesn't matter. There is some settling but mostly it's what people, plants, frosts and floods do to the soil around them that gets them to where they are

If that's the case, why do I find coins from the 1700's four inches down and 1970's nickels eight inches down 20 feet away from the 1700's coin I just found? Doesn't make sense. Sorry, but coins must sink and heavier coins sink faster than lighter coins.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I recently found a 1978 class ring that was nine inches down. A few weeks later, I found a KG III halfpenny less than 50 feet from where I found the ring. It was 7 inches down, so how did a 37 year old ring end up being deeper than a 240 year old coin? The ring was heavier (10k), so it sunk at a faster rate than the much lighter KG III coin.

 

[Limitool]

Doesn't make sense. Sorry, but coins must sink and heavier coins sink faster than lighter coins.

Well this theory explains why I can't find the "Golden Horseshoe" then...! Thanks.

 

[Jason in Enid]

I recently found a 1978 class ring that was nine inches down. A few weeks later, I found a KG III halfpenny less than 50 feet from where I found the ring. It was 7 inches down, so how did a 37 year old ring end up being deeper than a 240 year old coin? The ring was heavier (10k), so it sunk at a faster rate than the much lighter KG III coin.

This is completely wrong. coins (and rocks and gold, etc) don't sink unless you have a true liquid environment, and even mud doesnt count as a liquid. If you really think anything sinks, then put some dirt in a jar and drop your item on top and put it away in the back of the closet. See how deep it sunk in a few years, LOL

 

[FreeBirdTim]

This is completely wrong. coins (and rocks and gold, etc) don't sink unless you have a true liquid environment, and even mud doesnt count as a liquid. If you really think anything sinks, then put some dirt in a jar and drop your item on top and put it away in the back of the closet. See how deep it sunk in a few years, LOL

Sorry, you're wrong. Placing a coin in a jar of dirt won't replicate environmental conditions. Frost heave, the freezing and thawing of the ground, prolonged heavy rains and so on can't be replicated in a jar. I don't know why this is so difficult for some here to grasp! Coins sink, period! LOL!

 

[FreeBirdTim]

This is completely wrong. coins (and rocks and gold, etc) don't sink unless you have a true liquid environment, and even mud doesnt count as a liquid. If you really think anything sinks, then put some dirt in a jar and drop your item on top and put it away in the back of the closet. See how deep it sunk in a few years, LOL

So let's hear your hypothesis as to why the 1978 gold ring was 9 inches down and my 1775 coin was 7 inches down! One was dropped around 240 years ago and the other was dropped around 37 years ago. Why is it that the 37 year old ring was 2 inches deeper than the 240 year old coin?

 

[Jason in Enid]

coins don't sink! You just said it yourself; freeze and thaw play a part! so do plant growth, plant roots, plant decay, soil deposition, soil erosion.... coins don't sink! They are acted upon by natural forces, NOT GRAVTIY. Soil is too compact, dense (even as mud) to allow coins to SINK. If coins sank, nobody would ever find a roman coin. The entire roman building foundations would be 100 feet deep after 2000 years. Yet today, they are still being found inches below the soil surface. Those huge foundation stones sure weigh a lot more than a coin! Why are they still on top and not sitting on bedrock if everything sinks?

 

[killroy]

there is an article in lost treasures mag may 2015 on page 6 called "do coins really sink?" It says that earthworms are the main reason for coins reaching the depths they can Charles Darwin has given his theory on this subject as stated in the article.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

coins don't sink! You just said it yourself; freeze and thaw play a part! so do plant growth, plant roots, plant decay, soil deposition, soil erosion.... coins don't sink! They are acted upon by natural forces, NOT GRAVTIY.

Never said anything about gravity. We'll have to disagree on this one.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

If coins sank, nobody would ever find a roman coin. The entire roman building foundations would be 100 feet deep after 2000 years. Yet today, they are still being found inches below the soil surface. Those huge foundation stones sure weigh a lot more than a coin! Why are they still on top and not sitting on bedrock if everything sinks?

Rocks and foundations have more surface area, so they don't sink. That's why a coin on edge will sink faster than a coin lying flat. Also, old coins found near the surface are usually stopped from sinking by rocks, roots or densely compacted soil in arid regions.

Here's a good explanation of this principle. Read the part about an elephant walking on soft ground:

Principle of Flotation: The Reason Why Tiny Stones Sink Deep in the Water and Big Metal Ships Don't. - Readers Lab

 

[Jason in Enid]

So you are comparing coins in earth to ships in the ocean? Thats the weakest defense for an idea I have seen. It's not about surface area, its about density of the medium. If you drop a coin from your hand it will SINK through the air until it hits the ground because the air molecules are spaced too far to support the coin, but the molecules of the dirt ARE dense enough to support the coin. Not do it agian with water. The coin SINKS through the water until it reaches the bottom because the water molecules are too far apart to support the coin. SOIL IS TOO COMPACT TO ALLOW A COIN TO SINK. It's that simple. The fact that you admit that putting a coin in a jar of dirt, it will never sink because there are no outside forces acting on it.

 

[pepperj]

The 1914 dime laying right under about three inches of leaves and twigs in a shallow impression, scraped away the surface and there it layed, now this has only happened twice for me, the other was a 191?LC laying on a slope of a ravine just under the leaves. So where is gravity, surely it's rained a thousand times over the decades/century it's been laying there? Got coinage from these two examples to 14" so there's no logic in this I figured long ago, so I'm just happy I do get the coil over it and do the recovery. If the soil has ever been worked then all bets are off as anything can be at any depth and it would be basically wasted breath trying to justify a find at any depth in a pasture or field. Ever drive by a pasture in the springtime, cows can be up to their knee joints in mud then a few months later they're strolling along on top of the ground. Wow I got a aluminium pop can at 2ft!LC at 2 inches guess the animal missed that one. So lets throw hoofed animals into this mix did they step on the coin in the wet season?

 

[Limitool]

Here's my two cents worth for what's its worth.... Once... once a coin is pressed into the soil everything changes. Now this totally depends upon WHAT TYPE SOIL. What I mean by "pressed" means repeatably stepped upon by humans, horses or other means... any possibility! Once pressed into the soil it depends upon "what angle", soil type and environment.Now comes "Mother Nature" into the picture.

A lot of it is natural build up from compose. But I believe IF a coin is pressed into the soil then thunder and lightening enters into the picture. Both can shake your home a lot and the soil. If the soil is moist, coin pressed inward then the vibration from Mother Nature will further settle a object. And any object getting a "head start" pressed into the soil by any means will only go deeper. Some quickly deeper and some only 1-2 inches over several decades depending upon the normal environment. Also the frost line and other conditions enter into this also....

But I think a coin getting a "head start" has a lot to do with its found depth.....

Maybe by Wed. I'll figure it out since I know EVERYTHING on Wed.... Just send questions and I'll call one of my kids.... Brad

 

[pepperj]

I dug for years at High Park in Toronto 400 acres of history. Dug 100's of LCs dating from 1858-1920 and I did notice that closer to pathways/trails through the forested areas that the coins would be deeper sometimes, the deepest LC was in the middle of a trail/path at 14" measured depth I couldn't believe it at the time. So the pounding of walkers, joggers, animals, weather drove it down.