ABOUT COIN DEPTHS
- Thread starter Carol K
- Start date
I know I am new to this forum so please forgive me if I an overstepping my bounds being so new here, but I would like to post about one issue I haven't seen discussed here. Below is a picture of classic ground heave caused by freeze-thaw cycles that occur in cold weather climates. The raised area in the photo is about five inches high and returned to level within 48 hours after this photo was taken. Any coin that is near this phenomena will be raised or lowered in the ground. This occurs several times per year, is uneven and unpredictable. It occurs most in the top six to eight inches of ground. Coins that have been in the ground the longest obviously will be effected the most. I believe that this is one reason that older silver coins can often be found above newer coins.
brianw4brian
Full Member
I think it has a lot to do with the earth movement and surface faults. How compact the soil is.
dan
Elite Member
Cappy, you mean it's not just gnomes?
Seriously, I think you're right. It's another of those dirty little tricks that Mother Nature loves playing on us.
Seriously, I think you're right. It's another of those dirty little tricks that Mother Nature loves playing on us.
cfire3
New Member
Great Info just finally had the chance to read through it
TheCocaColaNut
New Member
Wow, now that really puts my mind into action. Very interesting info.
According to an article I just read by none other than Mr. Darwin,of Darwin Awards,the sink rate for coins where earthworms are active is approx. 2.5" /decade. This will vary due to soil moisture and fertility which will effect the activity of the earthworms.
dan
Elite Member
Mr. Darwin died in 1882. I wonder if there is more recent research pertaining to this?
ohiochris
Elite Member
I think it makes more sense for freeze and thaw cycles to slowly increase the depth of older coins. Frost heave then thaw creates movement , abundance of soil moisture from the melt causes the soil to be more fluid. Add movement and fluid soil and you usually get sink instead of float. But I suppose that too depends on the exact circumstances and soil makeup in the location in question.
Robs
New Member
After reading threw the entire thread, it seems there is no sure way to know the depth of coins by age. Just yesterday I found a 58 wheat at about 1.5 inches and 2 feet away a quarter at 5 at a an old football field. Also, this thread has given me hope of finding older coins and where to look.
I see this in my own front yard and over by my office every year... the sidewalk will raise up a couple inches and become a tripping hazard. Our building maintenance guy (doesn't work in our building) told me I was full of !!!! because the sidewalk is too heavy to move up and down. I took photos though and he then thought I was photoshopping it because it was back to normally when he came back to the office. I'm just an IT guy so I don't know ground heave from heebie jeebies but it makes sense to me.
Dirtfishin
Elite Member
Also surface space and how the coin is liying . If its on its side it will sink faster and if the coin is flat it will sink slower. Due to surface space.
worm12ga
Elite Member
Please keep in mind deposition lag. A coin minted in 1900 could have been dropped anytime between 1900 and when you dug it up. Valuable items, like coins, jewelry, etc, are usually kept for many years before they are lost. A date on a coin, cartridge case, piece of jewelry, etc only means it was not lost or discarded BEFORE that date.
Dewsweeper894
Elite Member
Why do you think farmers have to pick stones before planting fields in spring .
Frost pushes the stones up
Frost pushes the stones up
OleSarge
Elite Member
Let's try galvanic action along with sesmic activity, weather, erosion and countless other things such as specific gravity.
Earth grounding of everything which either uses or produces a electric current is necessary to prevent galvanic action from destroying the components of the electronic device.
Anyone who has ever metal detected around the buried cables of a power utility's transmission station or in the vicinity of a cell phone tower with bad grounding has experienced the audible consequences of galvanic activity in their head phones that is talikg place in the ground below their feet.
In case you aren't tracking here, the hulls of steel boats used in salt water must have sacrificial lead ingots attached to moving parts such as propeller shafts and other moving parts to protect them from destruction as the electrical current produced by the moving shaft is transferred to the salt water ground using the steel hull as the conductor.
For similar reasons the aluminum hot water heater of your RV, when wired for AC current, and the copper core of your cars radiator must be grounded to the steel frame or they too will be destroyed by galvanic action.
The exact principle of why this occurs is to complex and lengthy to fully explain here but it can be found nearly anywhere electronic theorys are discussed.
Even the moist air passing over the wing of a aluminum airplane produces a sufficient amount of galvanic action that aluminum areas surrounding the steel screws and rivets must be inspected and replaced regularly because the effects of galvanic activity will change its physical properties, and eventually destroy it.
Trashed zincolns are a main find, and many aren't so old that soil acidity can be held accountable for their miserable condition.
But the flow of electrical energy, produced both naturally by the difference in the minerals found in the soil of the area as well as man made electrical devices using earth ground can.
Zincolns are more prone to galvanic action than coins made of silver, gold or platinum because both copper and zinc are excellent conductors of electricity...check what your car battery is made of.....and both dissimilar metals are contained in a compact package which is already assembled to produce a electrical field of its own.
Disagee if you want, then go to the garage and count wealth of zincolns you have and then compare it to the number of silver, gold and platinum coins you have found at the same depth.
Oh yea, for the die hards which still believe that metal can't be moved by electrical current, go watch a arc welder as it moves molten metal from one surface to another,
Just a thought............
AT Pro/GPP/Fiskars Diggers
Earth grounding of everything which either uses or produces a electric current is necessary to prevent galvanic action from destroying the components of the electronic device.
Anyone who has ever metal detected around the buried cables of a power utility's transmission station or in the vicinity of a cell phone tower with bad grounding has experienced the audible consequences of galvanic activity in their head phones that is talikg place in the ground below their feet.
In case you aren't tracking here, the hulls of steel boats used in salt water must have sacrificial lead ingots attached to moving parts such as propeller shafts and other moving parts to protect them from destruction as the electrical current produced by the moving shaft is transferred to the salt water ground using the steel hull as the conductor.
For similar reasons the aluminum hot water heater of your RV, when wired for AC current, and the copper core of your cars radiator must be grounded to the steel frame or they too will be destroyed by galvanic action.
The exact principle of why this occurs is to complex and lengthy to fully explain here but it can be found nearly anywhere electronic theorys are discussed.
Even the moist air passing over the wing of a aluminum airplane produces a sufficient amount of galvanic action that aluminum areas surrounding the steel screws and rivets must be inspected and replaced regularly because the effects of galvanic activity will change its physical properties, and eventually destroy it.
Trashed zincolns are a main find, and many aren't so old that soil acidity can be held accountable for their miserable condition.
But the flow of electrical energy, produced both naturally by the difference in the minerals found in the soil of the area as well as man made electrical devices using earth ground can.
Zincolns are more prone to galvanic action than coins made of silver, gold or platinum because both copper and zinc are excellent conductors of electricity...check what your car battery is made of.....and both dissimilar metals are contained in a compact package which is already assembled to produce a electrical field of its own.
Disagee if you want, then go to the garage and count wealth of zincolns you have and then compare it to the number of silver, gold and platinum coins you have found at the same depth.
Oh yea, for the die hards which still believe that metal can't be moved by electrical current, go watch a arc welder as it moves molten metal from one surface to another,
Just a thought............
AT Pro/GPP/Fiskars Diggers
BottleCapKing
Elite Member
Just to add to the Density list:
All densities are in g/cm^3
Sterling Silver ((92.5%Ag/7.5%Cu): 10.36
Coin Silver (90%Ag/10%Cu): 10.31
FE Cents/Type I + II IH (88%Cu/12$Ni): 8.95
Nickels and Clad Coins (75%Cu/25%Ni): 8.94
Type III IH, Bronze Pennies, 2 Cent Pieces (95%Cu/4%Sb/1%Zn): 8.86
Brass Pennies (1963-1982 - 95%Cu/5%Zn): 8.85
So, in terms of Densities are concerned
Sterling > Coin Silver > CuNi Cents > Nickels/Clad > Bronze Cents > Brass Cents
For a given Environment, CuNi Cents, Nickels, and Clad should sink to similar depths since their densities as within one 1/100th on each other. The same is true for Brass and Bronze Pennies.
I will compile a list of gold alloy densities, but it will be a long list since there are so many different ways gold alloys are crafted for Jewelry.
All densities are in g/cm^3
Sterling Silver ((92.5%Ag/7.5%Cu): 10.36
Coin Silver (90%Ag/10%Cu): 10.31
FE Cents/Type I + II IH (88%Cu/12$Ni): 8.95
Nickels and Clad Coins (75%Cu/25%Ni): 8.94
Type III IH, Bronze Pennies, 2 Cent Pieces (95%Cu/4%Sb/1%Zn): 8.86
Brass Pennies (1963-1982 - 95%Cu/5%Zn): 8.85
So, in terms of Densities are concerned
Sterling > Coin Silver > CuNi Cents > Nickels/Clad > Bronze Cents > Brass Cents
For a given Environment, CuNi Cents, Nickels, and Clad should sink to similar depths since their densities as within one 1/100th on each other. The same is true for Brass and Bronze Pennies.
I will compile a list of gold alloy densities, but it will be a long list since there are so many different ways gold alloys are crafted for Jewelry.
Here in Michigan, frost sometimes goes down 30inches or more on bare ground. All that soil expands and contracts with the freezing water in the soil. Wetter soil expands more than dry, so there is constant winter shifting. That is what brings large, and small stones to the surface of a farmers field. Even though they remove them each year, new ones are there in the spring. The same effect happens with coins in the soil.
JPtheDigger
Full Member
Thanks!
Good stuff to know. While there are always exceptions due to other conditions, this is a good general guide. Thanks for posting!
Good stuff to know. While there are always exceptions due to other conditions, this is a good general guide. Thanks for posting!
