What do you think: How deep would a 150 year old coin be?

[mikeofaustin]

What would be your experienced best guess on how deep a coin would be in just your typical persons front yard, not a new home where the builder brings in dirt, etc., but in land that's been the same height for forever. Now, a typical yard, consisting of the average family 'traffic'. How 'deep' do you think a coin that was dropped 150 years ago, be in the ground by now.

I was in around a new (~5 years?) volleyball area yesterday and nothing was deeper than 2 inches... including that dang pull tab. I was actually surprised things were even that deep. ...and nope, nothing worth noting was found.

 

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[Ricardo_NY1]

2-6 inches.

 

[Sandman]

An awful lot depends on the type soil or even leaf mulch build up. I've found old coins on top of the ground and dug them about two feet deep in the water with a PI with a large coil.

 

[johnnycat]

My oldest find is a 1864 half-dollar add it was no more 5"-6" deep. Soil had a high content of alkali, high desert in California.

 

[Farmercal]

I have been hitting this old school (from the 40s?) and I have been pulling memorial cents and clad dimes and quarters from 4-6 inches. I also found a mercury dime in the front yard of the school at only 4 inches next to a piece of trash.

 

[gnewt]

Got me..
If it is laying flat or on edge
If is top of a rock
Type of soil
A creek bed with water
A dry creek bed
below 10 inches, could you get a signal?
I think it would be my guess as to the depth of anything, the MD has to tell me where it is, and that is a maybe for me. Don't get me wrong, this is my hunting problem, no one else may have it.

 

[GaryL]

I think it would be fair to say surface to 8", I have read a lot on the subject on how far a coin might sink, get covered with grass clippings, blowing dust, and what ever. Everything averages out surface to 6" with some at 8".

Been MD'ing and so far in 40+ years most all my older coins, rings and small jewelery have been surface to 6" on average. Found a 1824 Silver Dollar Aug., of 2007 and it was only 2.5" deep and yes I do carry a small pocket measure. Found a few Large cent coins in 2007 & deepest was 4".

However in sandy soil could be really deep. The average coin is surface to 6".

GaryL ....

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I've found Indian Head cents on the surface (worn almost smooth on a shale outcropping beside a river) and a '96 Roosevelt dime at 8" (in a park that floods - silts up). Coins circulate between frost layer and the surface as seasons change, soil is tilled, roots move, etc.

Mankind just loves to move dirt around. Holes are filled, bumps scraped, lawns rolled, fields plowed, etc.

And, as mentioned, depends how loose the soil is. Woods are much looser than paths & sidewalks.

 

[U.K. Brian]

2000 year old coins can be on the surface with nearby modern coins a foot deep.
Worm and mole action brings things up. Even a large rock sinking in the soil produces displacement waves forcing light items upwards.
Get a hard winter where the soil cracks and a modern coin can drop straight down a foot or so.

 

[mikeofaustin]

Thanks for all the information. I was thinking that most of what caused a coin to sink, were earth worms and rain as well as organic matter decomposing, adding a new layer every year.

Interesting topic though.

 

[I_Dig_NYC]

Mikeofaustin you are correct all those things cause coins to sink. I have been doing some research on this subject and found a scientific study on this phenomena. Did you know that freeze/thaw cycles in dirt can cause a rock or a boulder to heave, rise and drop, as well as move horizontally, and even cause it to roll thru the earth over many cycles. So a coin going thru 150 years of this could end up anywhere.

 

[Ant]

I don't remember the place that I read it, but it said that on the average (if there is an average) coins sink 1/16" per year. That would put a coin that has been on the ground for 150 years 9.375" deep.

HH

 

[DDEXPII]

on the average .00001" TO 100'


sorry I have 1864 5cent at 4" and 1964 25cent at about 8+"

alot things play a factor in this rain wind snow floods woods people and on

HH DDEII

 

[hollowpointred]

its impossible to say. way too many variables determine how deep something will be. sometimes i have found 200 year old coins just under the surface and other times i have found memorial cents 8 inches deep.

 

[Johnny Ringo Silver]

Well, I've dug an 1840's seated dime at 6.5in in a yard and an 1810 capped bust half in a field at 5in. soo
I would say it depends on if the ground is sandy, wet, rocky, in the woods, or in someones front yard.
Probably from 5 too 9in deep. 8)

 

[rebelLT]

At the CTH hunt last fall I saw a guy (dont remember who) find a barber dime ON TOP of the ground. I have also dug a 1985 quarter from a hole two inches deeper than my lesche. The answer? Like someone said. WAAAAY to many variables to answer that question. Around my neck of the woods a coin will sink, IMO, about 1 inch in ten years if the soil is not disturbed. Of course that depends on the moisture content of the soil and, Oh! Has someone told you that manicured lawns dont compost as much soil over time? And of course soil, like water, becomes more dense at depth, causing the coin to slow as it drops. It's confusing right? SO is the answer...... WHO KNOWS.

 

[I_Dig_NYC]

Here's a good analogy; Picture a coin bouncing around in a clothes dryer. It rises, falls, rolls and bounces side to side, correct?. Well that's, most likely, what a coin would do if you could capture it on film for 150 years using time lapse photography. I too have been haunted and frustrated by this phenomina. But it is proven, and much like most people have said here, there are too many variables. Traffic, plow's, lawn mowers, landscaping, earthquakes, flooding, soil types, earthworms, freeze / thaw cycles, cracks in dirt, rocks in dirt, and so on and so on............
If we knew where they were, would we need metal detectors, fancy depth finders, or pinpointers?

 

[KINGPULLTAB]

I'm not sure about coins, but I can tell you I've been out digging for arrow heads and found an arrow head, musket ball, and pottery all in the same hole at the same depth. I'm 5'9" and the hole was chest deep. Most of the arrow heads we find are 3 to 5 feet down. They say it depends on the soil. The closer the hard pack is to the surface the closer it will be to the top. When you start digging holes the size of small trucks you can see the soil change as you get deeper and then you hit the hard pan and thats where you start finding all the good stuff. The hard part if filling in that hole. LOL

Happy hunting, KINGPULLTAB

 

[WheatbackDigger]

my oldest copper was 1826 half cent...1/2 inch deep...found a 1865 two center on the surface in the woods...actually put rub marks from the coil on it

 

[Johnny Ringo Silver]

my oldest copper was 1826 half cent...1/2 inch deep...found a 1865 two center on the surface in the woods...actually put rub marks from the coil on it

WOW.....I think someones goodie bag had a hole in it!!