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How deep do coins sink????

Bodyman

Bodyman

Full Member
Joined
May 12, 2012
Messages
238
Location
North east il.
I have tried several grassy fields for coin shooting, these fields have just been mowed for at least twenty five years . my question is all i am digging is clad coins no earlier than the 1970's, some as deep as six or eight inches How deep would an early coin be likely to sink ,at that rate seems like several feet would be likely. I cant imagine finding an Indian head coin unless some body just lost it.
 
I have had sites like that. Deep clad that sinks in soft dirt. I find somewhere else where the older coins are 6 to 8 inches deep.
 
Do you know if there was any activity in those fields prior to the 1970's (old home site, ball field.. etc...) obviously if your finding clad coins then something was there but what & when and for how long is the question...

Just yesterday I dug a 1893 v nickle about 2 inches deep re-swept the area & got another signal about 4 inches off to the side & dug a 1971 penny at 6 inches deep, theres no explainable reason why a 100+ year old coin would be nearly on the surface & a 40 year old coin be right next to it & deeper.. But it happens all the time, even if your digging deep clad you still have a good chance of finding some old coins if there where any there in the first place to find..
 
Also, not all depth is a result of sinking. Over the last 25 years, how many times did they sprinkle sand to level dips or bring in fill dirt to re-landscape and then re-sod. This can quickly bury newer coins. I live in the desert where the ground is really hard. Much of the depth is due to landscaping rather than natural sinking. Before moving here I remember digging 5 year old zincs at 8 inches at one park. They had resurfaced the whole park. I was disappointed as the park was first built in 1902. All of the oldies were out of the reach of the explorer that I was using.
 
I have dug a 1900 Barber dime at 8" in a park and about 400 yds away in the same park I dug an 1888 Indian Head at bout 2-3" & 1903 Barber dime 3"
 
I live on an older farm where the ground is real real soft. On a rainy day you can sink 2-3 inches into the yard. I've gotten a 2007 quarter at ~7inches and just last night got a 1975 dime at 8-8 1/2 inches. By the law of random occurrances though, I have also pulled out wheats at 2-3 inches. = D You just never know.

At a CCC camp in the woods I pulled several wheats that were essentially lying on top of the ground. Then at a farm very close to that location I pulled a 1911d wheat from less than a 1/2". Keep swinging chances are you'll hit something.
 
I found an 1850s Chinese coin last week at 3" so it must have sank pretty far if it was lost in China. (Kidding) As forementioned, a lot has to do with the soil, how hard it is packed, how much moisture it gets (natural and artificial) Has the area ever been plowed? Leveled? Dirt been added? I have been hunting several homesteads on a large ranch. The pastures that have never been plowed, and are irrigated very little I find 100 yr old coins at only a couple inches. One 1897 IH was just under the surface, less than an inch but it was in a gopher town so I would imagine the rodents kicked it up at some point.
 
Well...my first MD was dead on arrival...but prior to getting a new one I tossed a penny in my grass...in hopes of finding it. I had forgotten about it for about 3 weeks.
I found it with my new MD....3" deep.

So.....an inch a week for that coin.

Weird huh?

Just reg old plain grass.....lots of rain during those 3 weeks..but still..I thought that sank fairly fast.
 
Its really hard to say. I have found silver coins from the 1940's 4' deep in sandy soil with a little grass on it and modern clads well deeper.

I heard frost pushes stuff out of some soils, I tend to believe this as the farms around here have piles of rocks farmers continually remove and old trash pits work thier way up to the surface too.
 
Theres this athletic field I go to that always has very very shallow old coins.

Here's a 1787 MA copper at less than 2 inches deep.
e12d505d.jpg


Off the field and in other areas of the park the coins are very very deep.
 
If you have sandy soil like Florida does,clad sinks deep fast.It's almost like thinking about beach sand.A beach with clay bottom like some lakes have hold up the coin.A sandy bottom lets it sink fast.I've yet to find a silver coin inland.And parks here date to 1901 or even older.
 
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