depth of coins

[Anonymous]

i was curios(i new at this) if any of you have found in your experiance,that coins sit in the ground a certain depths based upon the age they have been there,or do they move around with frost,mud ect.my recent coin finds at an old farm house foundation that is 100 years old were 3 inches under the surface,that suprised me how shallow they were and makes me wonder if they were lost later than i thought,second what depth is considered deep for the m/L explorer to pick up?

 

[Charlie (OR)]

There are many factors involved with depth of coins.

for example how long is the ground frozen per year, what type of ground cover as in grass or field sod is it watered alot or not.

frozen ground lets say 3 months of the year well that coin isn't going anywhere during that time.

next heavy rooted grass or field sod might take 40 years just to get through the root system because the coin has to do flip flops to get through it all.

next up I have heard that many people did not water any lawn area till around the 50s due to only having push mowers or animals to keep the grass cut, now this means that ground might be dry as a bone for 3 months out of the year.

now between frost and dry conditions your coin can only move 6 months out of a year.

I have dug coins at 6 inches in a school lawn that still had dead grass around them in the bottom of the hole most coins were from the 40s but some from the teens and 20s, most of the school lawns have had lots of water now for 40 or more years.

in the pine forest area around here I have gotten early 1900 coins right on top of the ground sitting on pine straw and as green as could be.

Charlie

 

[Anonymous]

thank you for the reply,i guess there isnt any way to judge the depth untill you dig'em

 

[Chalkspray]

All depends on whether or not the ground has been disturbed... I once found an 1885 Indian on the surface; and I mean on the SURFACE. I actually kicked it with my foot by accident, it hit a rock and I look down, there it was. This was the yard of a late 1800's victorian-style house in Minneapolis with a gigantic wheeping willow tree in the front yard. I'm willing to bet nothing's changed in that yard since the house was built.

The one rule I always follow is this: If you're digging clad crap at 6 inches, you're in fill, get the hell out and find another spot. Don't leave right away though, dig a coin, move 15 feet, dig another, move another 10 or 15 feet, dig another. If you end up with the same results all around you're in fill. I found a barber dime in a park at 2.5 to 3 inches so there is no gauge that you can go by; its different at each site.

Jeremy

 

[william king]

I agree with the rest. I have found 44 mercs at 6 inches and I have found 44 mercs at 2 inches so you never know.