so how deep do coins get?

[Treasure_Hunter]

So hypothetically speaking how deep is the average coin in America considering drop and the process start. vs buried oh yeah how much treasured of any kind is still buried is there anyway proof or statistics, thanks

There is really no "hypothetical deep", it depends on location, soil composition, how many leaves fall, brush and weeds grow, and dust and dirt blowing in the wind what decomposition is for that location.

 

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[49er12]

Ok let’s narrow it down , nothing along the shorelines, beach etc, all inland where there’s no hurricane etc. yes soft or hard soil, clay etc, I no I’m asking a question that can’t be answered, but aren’t you curious of how much we removed in the last 40 years, compared to what’s left inland not in the water, thanks

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Ok let’s narrow it down , nothing along the shorelines, beach etc, all inland where there’s no hurricane etc. yes soft or hard soil, clay etc, I no I’m asking a question that can’t be answered, but aren’t you curious of how much we removed in the last 40 years, compared to what’s left inland not in the water, thanks

It is just impossible to say, way to many variables to say average depth. Beach and hurricanes never entered into my answer, I assumed you were talking about inland and excluding hurricanes. Clay soil with no near trees very little sinking, the more loamy the soil is the deeper objects sink, the more leaves that fall the deeper it will be over time as the leaves decompose.

 

[pepperj]

Ok let’s narrow it down , nothing along the shorelines, beach etc, all inland where there’s no hurricane etc. yes soft or hard soil, clay etc, I no I’m asking a question that can’t be answered, but aren’t you curious of how much we removed in the last 40 years, compared to what’s left inland not in the water, thanks

Let's go with 60 yrs that folks have been digging coins.
Have the detectorists made a dent in the over all coinage lost?
That's what we kind of assume that we have.
Now consider this fact:

The US Mint produced a total of 816,138,372,612 coins between 1921 and 2020
1.2 Billion a year now.

 

[CaptEsteban]

I talked with Tom years ago about how deep the coins were in my above post . This is at an old boat ramp, so there is flooding in the area. I gave up on hunting that site a few years ago. The CZ3D I had back then would air detect 11.5" & all I could find were 1960-70's coins.

 

[VaGent]

There is literally no magic answer. I hunt wooded areas in central Virginia, and have found Civil War buttons literally in the leaf mulch.. and nearby have found post 1900 coins 12" deep in the soil.🤷‍♂️

 

[ticndig]

I dug spanish silver at 8'' where 18'' of soil had just been removed with a dozer for a logging road.
I also found the spanish silver coin on top of the sand on the water's edge at low tide.
Civil war buttons on top of the ground and beer cans 2+ feet deep.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Coins do get covered with leaves and other organic material, but they also sink. If I find a 1970's Jefferson nickel 10 inches down it's because it sank, not because there's 10 inches of decompsed organic material that dropped on top of it in less than 50 years. Maybe a couple of inches could be decomposed leaves, but not 10 inches. If it was 10 inches of decomposed organic material, it would be easy to dig through it. The soil around here isn't rock hard, but it's not soft as butter either. No way is the soil just the remnants of decomposed leaves.

 

[Swinging 360]

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I can’t speak about the Manacor, but I can say my XP-Deus 2 is a beast. I had the equinox 800 but I was not impressed. But everyone is different, what works well for me, may not work well for others. And to me, you can’t beat the feather weight ergonomics of an XP. But that’s just me🤷‍♂️ But there’s no doubt the manticore will be a great machine

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

We have several rivers hereabouts, and many floodplains used for town parks. I have found Indian Head cents on the surface and Roosevelt dimes 12” deep. The silting up and grading takes most natural settling out of the equation. I’m sure there are likely coins over two feet deep, as I detected where they were digging for a pad to put up a memorial and found coins from the 1930’s 8” under the 12” dug-out exposed surface.

 

[eyemustdigtreasure]

I’ve wondered that also. Over the centuries, specifically in United States being a new country id think most coins should be 12 inches or less, but we have no proof howthe land has changed, meaning land filled area,top soil, if something is deeper than a foot, I think more dirt was pushed Over original, I mean since the beginning of coins in America how else would they get deeper than a foot, my question

Depends, there 's so many variables. The soil, disturbance, forested or open. Depth of 200 yr old coins could be just under the leaf litter...! Heck, frost, human and animal traffic on a cart path, for example, coins would be pounded into submission, could be laid to rest, in just a few inches of compacted soil....
Treasure is where you find it....!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Has a lot more to do with soil and weather conditions, if the soil where coin fell has lots of earth worms they will sink faster, if area gets a lot of moisture like snow, ice, rain, and heavy dew that will affect it, if drop coins are shelter from rain by objects they will sink less as they are not pounded by rain drops. .

The little bit of detecting I did in the dry areas in the west coins were not very deep at all where areas that get a lot of rain were deep.

Mowing, plowing and the decomposing of tree leaves, grass and plants material, and dust and dirt blown by the wind is a factor too.

Erosion caused by heavy rain on hillsides causing dirt to wash down hill covering up coins.

If area has a lot of foot traffic it can affect depth too.

 

[pepperj]

15 yrs ago I was detecting in an old park in Palmetto FL.
Fellow approached me and said his father earned a living through detecting back in the 60s.
He explained different techniques that they used to pull the deep coins.
Stated that his father found a fort, then it became a golf coarse and history was lost.
But the one thing that I can say was fact was he pointed to a spot in the park.
"You can get Indian Head Pennies right over there in that area.
But they'll be 11" or more down."
The SE was max'd to its abilities and I got a few past the 11" mark.
So in parks things tend to be deeper, grass/leaf litter. The foot traffic pounding on the turf year after year. No frost to push the coinage in FL. Though that sandy soils are a major factor also.

 

[ArfieBoy]

I am in the Pacific Northwest where we get a lot of frozen ground in the winters, not just frost. The freezing caused the soil and ground to buckle, heave and sink. Those are all a factors on what the depth of any coin will be found with a metal detector. And it doesn't just depend on the machine, but on the experience and knowledge of what the machine is telling the operator and how good the operator is at interpreting those signals. Coin dropped around the same time and near each other might be found at different depths.

 

[Rmeav8r]

As others have stated, coins don't just sink into the ground (maybe a little). I like to look at older sidewalks as an indicator of how much composted soil has built up through the years, they certainly look like they have sunk into the surrounding soil. Some are easily 6-8 inches or more lower than the lawn or curb strips, especially those from the mid 1960's. For that reason I love the sidewalk tear outs.

 

[49er12]

And a lot of coins , relics are not laying flat which means the signal is weaker and we simply move on and pass up stuff, I’m no expert but I ask which is a good thing.

 

[Ocean7]

i have a park near me that ive found coins 12 to 14 inches . i know that mostly from the trees, so now i found a old ghost town in the desert. there allot of stuff like cans on top of the ground. with just wind and sand ,how deep to you think the coins can get in 100 years? thank you brad

8" to 12" on average if deep but less in denser soil filled with more small rocks. If you can find coins at 12-14" - you will probably find most 100 year old coins.

Shovel test pits used by archaeological survey are approx. .50 meters or 20". Coins are found at this depth and much deeper. How they get there is up for grabs but you can be sure there are coins beyond your metal detector's range.

 

[miserman]

I agree that part of the depth is caused by leaf/grass build up but only maybe 1"-2". I believe the majority of depth apart from manmade disturbance(fill dirt etc) comes from the action of earthworms. They consume dirt and as they tunnel under a coin it creates an empty space of about 1/8 inch that the coin tilts into. Then maybe the next time a different area of the coin is tunneled under. This is why some coins are tilted. This continues year after year and the small 1/8 inch movements cause the coin sinkage. In areas that have a lot of worm activity the coins are deeper and in dryer areas not very much. Watch the link and visualize the coin moving under the empty areas.
Worms at Work One Month - YouTube

 

[glass half fool]

Rodents digging in and around old building foundations or dumps can make a real difference in how deep or shallow many items can be .

 

[49er12]

So can we no or prove if the ground is original, landfill or simply disturbed.