Have some older coins sunk out of reach??

[tnredneck]

Hello Everyone,


I haven't posted in a while but as i was reading another post today i was asking myself the same question that i have asked myself many times before. "Where are all of the older coins going?" I still find old coins but not like i did back in the 80's. I still find virgin territory to hunt but there doesn't seem to be as many per area as ther used to be back then. The other thing that i have noted is that i used to find memorial cents at 2 to 4 inches and now i am finding them at 5 to 6 inches?? Does the freezing and thawing cause the coins to deepen and if so does that mean that the older coins could possibly be falling out of the range of our detectors? I still find old coins at 3 to 6 inches in some areas...does the type of soil not allow them to sink as far? Is it better to hunt after a hard freeze and the a thaw?
I would like to know your opinion or input..could the older coins eventually sink far enough that the average detector would not reach them, not in all instances but in a lot of cases.


thanks,
Tnredneck

 

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[crazyjarhead]

Most of my best finds here in Ohio are 4-6 inches. Some people find deeper but can't explain all of the physics of how far a coin will sink into the ground. I recently found a 1864 2 center, an 1865LC, and an 1852 Half dime. These coins were no more than 6 inches. The 2 center was 4 inches. . Interesting question you brought up

 

[ringfinder]

Yes freezing and thawing does have an effect on how deep a coin or jewelry will go. If you are hunting good top soil and it is 7 or 8 inches deep that is how far the item will eventually go that deep depending on how long it has been it the soil. Usually if the top soil is 7 or 8 inches deep and under that top soil is clay, the coin will stop when it hits the clay. Of course if the item is in sand, it might even go deeper.

One of the deepest coins I ever found was 11 inches. I wondered at the time why it was so deep because other coins found in the same area were being found at 6 to 7 inches. Well come to find out, where I found the coin at 11 inches, they had cows in that area and it was really muddy all the time. When they got rid of the cows, they seeded the ground and it became a back yard.

I worked fields around my area and most of the coins or relics are around 4-6 inches deep. They are constantly being moved by the farmer when he works the field.

Hope that answers some of your questions.

HH,.Ringfinder

 

[ivan salis]

without a doubt soil conditions and weather play a large role in how deep the coins go. and soil conditions can vary wildly in a small bit of area at times.

 

[Saturna]

"Where are all of the older coins going?" I still find old coins but not like I did back in the 80's. I still find virgin territory to hunt but there doesn't seem to be as many per area as there used to be back then.
Tnredneck

I can't see there being that much difference in coin settling in only 30 years, otherwise there would be no really old coins to find after 100's of years of settling. They would be too deep now.

European and UK folks regularly find very old coins within that first few inches. Some are in plowed up farm fields, but others are in undisturbed soil. I have detected Victorian parks in Southport, England and found coins from the very late 1700's and up. Probably considered 'newish' to the locals, but amazingly old to me. I was finding those big Pennies as often as modern pennies are found in North America.


If you are finding less coins than before, I suspect it's because there simply aren't as many coins at one site compared to another or maybe there are more folks detecting these days.


Jay

 

[1320]

I'm conducting a freeze/thaw experiment this year with clay soil. I am amazed at how much clay will lift when it freezes, especially if the soil is particularly wet. Funny thing is, the clay that I'm monitoring, hasn't settled down to it's original "start" point, even though we had a stretch of 7 days well above 32 degrees. I'm glad that someone is interested in this subject! I'll snap/post some pictures of the sample next time it heaves.

 

[[email protected]]

What has changed in the last few decades is there has been more tampering with property. Top soil or sod added, back filled, etc. Sure there are old things near the surface at plowed fields, but a lot does sink below the plow line the more it is cultivated. In farm country, it is quite common for top soil to blow around and sometimes bury areas. Tree lines along fields are a good example of this. Of course areas that flood have silt added every time and frost does play a factor. Dry conditions effect depth.
One thing you will notice is why are there keepers to be found when a sidewalk boulevard is scraped down, even if it is only a few inches? The answer is JUNK! Think about how much more tin foil, bottle caps, tabs, etc. cover the surface since 30 years ago. I don't care how many manufacturers of detectors claim their machines "see through junk" there are still older finds that will never be found unless you remove the trash. My machine does find things through junk but not in every situation, that's for sure!
If you search some bush sites I think you will still find old stuff fairly shallow.
Dave.

 

[EddieR]

I've sometimes found that the "sinkage rate" for coins has NO rhyme or reason....sometimes it doesn't make any sense at all. One of my sites has yielded Wheaties 5" deep....then a Shield nickel at 3"....then a Seated Liberty dime (1876) at 3".....then a Merc barely under the surface...then clad at 2"

 

[kindafoundabuckle]

I had a virgin spot one time and all the new pennies were 6 inches and the wheat's and silver was around 2-3 inches. Still trying to figure that one out.

KFB

 

[kdismuke1]

INTERESTING.

 

[Newt]

It also depends on the orientation in the soil. If on edge, it sinks quicker.
Newt

 

[gmstreet]

I've heard just the opposite, that some coins are actually pushed out of the ground. A detecting old timer, showed me once, how a coin spill will stack one coin on top of another after a few years in the ground. I would definitely say the overall moisture of the ground, soil composition, traffic, diameter and weight(density)of the coins, among other things, would determine weather the coins sink, rise or stay the same depth. I also wonder if people valued there money more back in the day, and took the time to pick up that Indian head when they dropped it, as apposed to people today having the attitude, " It's just a penny". I have found 1 Indian head and 1 merc. to over 1000 clad coins in our city park which is over 110 years old. I can't go twenty feet in the park without finding a newer coin, so where's all the older coins? It seems easy to find new money anywhere there's people, maybe where the people are now, aren't where they were a hundred years ago....?

Greg

 

[history hunter]

I believe that coins sink and rise when the ground freezes and thaws, also after it gets saturated year after year and then goes through a drought. This also moves coins that were on edge to a more flat position, so they might be more easily found, where once they could not be easily detected. Some very old coins may also be closer to the surface due to the previous statements, or perhaps maybe due to a rocky/clay soil. This is what I thought might be a good explanation after my 40 years of MD. That is another reason why spots never get cleaned out. HH

 

[UTcoinshootR]

Here in UT coin depths are steady for the most part. Almost all of the wheat pennies I've found were right at 6 to 8 inches. If you find old coins at or above the depth of new coins I would think its safe to say the ground has been tilled, leveled, aerated, etc. There was also an interesting article in W&E this month about "Gopher Hole Park". There were thousands of holes from varmits in this park and the author would find OLD coins right on top and newer ones around 8 inches. There are so many factors involved in a coins depth that all you can do is put the loop to the ground and hope for the best. I do think most older coinage in my area is around 9 to 11 inches. I have yet to find a barber, but I WILL find one in 09.

 

[allen]

ive found wheaties at 3 to 4 inches, but yet i dug a 1997 memorial at 9 inches, so id have to say it depends on the soil...

 

[Duane B]

The depth of coins is effected by type od soil and moisture content. One reason coins get deep in grass and lawns is because dead grass gradually builds up on top of the coins. In older parts of the city you can see that many lawns have raised several inches above the old sidewalks. Without sand blowing around, coins do not sink very much in dry, rocky, desert environments. Here in Utah I've found two half dimes that were lost in 1858, both lying on the surface of the ground. It was in an area with sparse grasses and sagebrush that had never been tilled. Go out in some of the desert areas around here, and you can see rocks, pebbles, and fossils that have been on the surface of the ground for tens of thousands of years.

 

[jopher]

The depth of coins is effected by type od soil and moisture content. One reason coins get deep in grass and lawns is because dead grass gradually builds up on top of the coins. In older parts of the city you can see that many lawns have raised several inches above the old sidewalks. Without sand blowing around, coins do not sink very much in dry, rocky, desert environments. Here in Utah I've found two half dimes that were lost in 1858, both lying on the surface of the ground. It was in an area with sparse grasses and sagebrush that had never been tilled. Go out in some of the desert areas around here, and you can see rocks, pebbles, and fossils that have been on the surface of the ground for tens of thousands of years.

Bingo....I believe the largest contributor is natural composting......items are buried by decaying vegetation and airborn dust and debris.A "virgin" site that has been left unkept to some degree.....leaves , grass , acorns ,small twigs left to lay......builds soil layers quickly.
Areas where this debris collects....around trees and shrubs and in depressions.....burys items quickly whereas a nearby open area or knoll maybe not so fast.

 

[BIG61AL]

I search a lot of parks where the grass is cut and not raked up. The coins I find are in the dirt below the roots. It is clear that the grass grew over the coins. Once they hit that layer I think they tend to stay there. Sand is another story.

 

[Ray S ECenFL]

http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/loveisdeep.htm

This link may give you some insight, but the bottom line is that an object will sink until the density of the surrounding material equals or exceeds the density of the object.

Ray S

 

[berkshiregold]

My first Indian cent (1866) was at 3 to 4" deep and in very good condition. It was in a fairly protected place between an out building and a house. (about 8' apart) Maybe the frost didn't go too deep? (Northeast)