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Will coins ever stop sinking??

RHG

New member
Will coins continue to sink into the ground day by day?? Deeper and deeper? or will they slow down at a point??
 
Depends on a lot of things.
In sand on the beach they will drop quickly all the way down to the hardpan.
In nice black soil they can get deep but that is affected by the moisture content, freezing and thawing effect and who knows what else.
In my red clay soil here in the southeast the clay seems to stop a lot of movement much past 6", as a matter of fact most of my deeper targets usually hover around that level in both good and bad soil but there are exceptions.
Roots around trees seem to stop them from dropping, and I have dug targets past 6" even up to the 10" plus area but for me that is rare.

I have found modern zincolns pretty deep and silver and other older coins very shallow in really good and really bad soil so you just never know.
The universe is funny and likes to mess with our heads...a lot.
All sites and depths can be different so never assume, just gotta dig up stuff at any given site and see.
 
I don't think coins actually sink. I say that because in the brush, without a lot of dead vegetation to cover up coins, folks find mid 1800's coins all the time either on or just under the surface. In parks and school yards where grass is cut and deposited then rots and turns to soil you will find coins very deep. Sandy beaches might be a whole other ball game.
Just my opinion.
 
When they hit hard pan or here in n.w Florida we have red clay from exposed from erosion on bald hillsides to many feet deep in bottom land.. But average is 10" to 20" deep.. Even areas of small depressions in an area can fill in with soil and cover coins and cover the hardpan/clay even deeper.
Also they can hit a rock and stop and roots sometimes push'em up.
 
How about areas that freeze in the winter, do you think coins get pushed up when the frost comes up?
 
If the coins are not sinking and are only being covered up with grass clippings please explain to me how side walks are not six or more inches below the surface in my parks that have been there for 40 or 50 years.
 
GeorgeinSC said:
If the coins are not sinking and are only being covered up with grass clippings please explain to me how side walks are not six or more inches below the surface in my parks that have been there for 40 or 50 years.

Sidewalks don't get covered in grass. Explain to me why rocks continually come to the surface of farm fields instead of sinking. I don't know for sure about how coins get to the depths they do. I said it was my opinion.
 
I dont know how it works but its strange! I have noticed that on my older sites in the woods stuff is deeper . I know the leaves drop every year but in the fields its a mixed bag where the plow has been. I dont hunt parks so I cant comment on that, Im sure the forage plays a part but how they sink or how fast I havent a clue. how many of you have ever found a coin at 9 inchs or more?
 
GeorgeinSC said:
If the coins are not sinking and are only being covered up with grass clippings please explain to me how side walks are not six or more inches below the surface in my parks that have been there for 40 or 50 years.

Surface area is greater .... sidewalks are kept free of debris and not allowed to get covered over.

One would think that if coins were moving downward in the soil then they all sooner or later should be on edge rather than flat.
Path of least resistance and all that.
 
In certain areas in lawns in black dirt have found coins from the 80's and 90's 5"-6" deep.
Had to sink at least a little to that level, brush, dirt and grass clippings don't build up that deep in 20-25 years and the original 1920's sidewalks are still at the same level as the lawns.
In other lawns in the same neighborhood on the same block I have found much older coins back to the teens and 20's at about the same depths.
 
Archaeological sites yielding artifacts are often dug down over ten feet. That should answer your question.
 
GeorgeinSC said:
If the coins are not sinking and are only being covered up with grass clippings please explain to me how side walks are not six or more inches below the surface in my parks that have been there for 40 or 50 years.

Sidewalks are flat and have a large surface area yet here in p'cola the old sidewalks do sink,,they also don't turn on edge and slip through the roots.
Ever notice when a sidewalk is torn up the coins are still there,not sunk at all.
No root system to loosen the soil and no grass clippings to add over them. Notice in dry arid climates out west the coins are only for surface to a couple of inches if sand has washed or blown over them.. Here in the southeast thy sink fast.. I dug a 83 zincin my yard at 6"-7" last year,we've owned the place since the early 30's.. No fill dirt ever.
 
Now that takes me to my favourite hunting areas.
I found my best and oldest items within the surface areas of thick tall grass patches.
Actually stuck between the plants!
These plants are so strong, they bring up various objects that get stuck under ground.
A 2100 year old bronze coin, in the grass.
A pre-money celtic bronze ring, in the grass.
A large copper (maybe Roman) heavily worn planket (head profile barely visible), in the grass.
A small Roman Follis 2nd to 4th century coin, just below grass roots.
Aluminum coins, on top, actually on the surface, even higher than most pull-tabs.
Old iron coins, none yet, just won't hunt for them until I decide I want to hunt for them...
New steel coins, anywhere.
Corona caps, definitely on top. I hate them...
200 year old copper coins, in farmland, about 2 to 4 inches below surface.
Most important, learn to interprete your detector's readings.
Even if you're positive there's a pull-tab underneath, dig it out anyways, you'll be doing your part in cleaning the ground, and, maybe the "pull-tab" might be something better instead.
Coins move, always, and they also turn, alot, even without anyone moving them. Nature is very powerful.
 
Here's a new thought, I've been thinking about this a lot. Here in Kansas the springs get pretty wet sometimes, and the summers get really dry sometimes. When this happens, a hard dry summer after a soft wet spring, the ground cracks, a lot! I've considered building bridges over them in my back yard! LOL. Well here is my theory, when this happens, these cracks can get 2-3 inches wide and 2-3 feet deep! What if a coin was stuck 2 inches down in the ground to the side of one of these cracks, half stuck in the wall. Suddenly we get a downpour of rain! Water is a powerful force. When the water starts running down the cracks the ground loosens and lets the heavier coin slip out of it's hold in the dirt, in a matter of a second that coin that was 2 inches deep, theoretically could now be 2 feet deep, never to be found with any metal detector. How many hot dry summers with big cracks in the ground were followed with a downpour of rain have there been, since my 1861 dime that I found in 2014, got lost. How did it survive not being buried much deeper than 2 inches? That's how deep it was! It had to be buried far more than 100 years! Just my thought, what do you think? That's how a 1998 zincoln gets buried 6 inches deep!
 
copper kidd said:
How about areas that freeze in the winter, do you think coins get pushed up when the frost comes up?

Yes I believe so. I have had fence post pushed up out of the ground 6" and more in wet areas,also have small perenials (plant that die off in winter and come back in spring) pushed up. I have seen mother nature do some owesome and funny things. I am in south west PA.
 
Yes BillF, coins for the most part don't sink. Examples, a park with a hill, coins from the 50's on the top of the hill, 3 inch's deep, coins at the bottom of the hill from the 50's, 6 inch's deep.. Rain Wash's dirt, grass down the hill to cover coins on the bottom.. Coins in the woods, little grass to build up, 100 year old coins 1-3 inch's deep. Same area, out of the woods 100 year old coins 8+ inch's deep. People who mowed lawns as kids (don't they all)? The thick grass piles up, drys up, builds the soil up. More? How deep do you find the top soil in one of those grassy areas, often 10-12 inch's deep of black soil, all that buildup turns to top soil. Close by in the woods, how deep do you find the top soil? Not so deep. Again more? Sidewalks don't sink, the grass/ground do buildup. rain Wash's it on to the sidewalk, it gets swept off. When side walks are first installed the are at least 1 inch above the surrounding ground. OK now for the picky hard to convince people, ya sure a muddy ground and something runs over it, ya it's pushed down..
 
I've dug coins from flat ground that has not been mowed nor does our ground freeze in n.w Florida on my own property at 7"-8" ... 1983 zinc sunk fast.
Grass clippings will never turn into dirt,,just organic matter.
 
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