Newer coins dissolving in the ground

[Tommy Boy]

I have really been enjoying.my Nox 900, I have been finding a lot of coins, so far nothing older than the 1960's. I have noticed that the coins from the 60's, 70's, and 80's look pretty good when you dig them out of the ground, but newer coins show serious signs of decay, especially newer pennies are almost unrecognizable. I am in Northwest Arkansas, maybe its the soil mineralization. Anyone else seeing this.

 

[thepest]

Zink pennies absolutely... But I have noticed... especially at the beach... the newer clad coins and nickels are looking rougher than usual... A nickel shouldn't come out looking rainbow colored... and almost not legible... None of the older coins are cleaning up as nice as they used to all of a sudden either... I thought it was just us... here in South West Coast New Jersey... ( a great place to be from )... maby it's everywhere

 

[trojdor]

Tommy Boy,
As 'thepest' alluded to, modern pennies are no longer made of copper.
In mid 1982, they replaced copper pennies with copper PLATED zinc.
The zinc can easily form an electrolytic action with the ground mineralization/salts/moisture, and .... as you noticed .... actually dissolve into nothing.
(We sometimes call them stinkin' zincolns.)

You can easily see the zinc, by scraping the edge of a new penny to expose the white metal of the zinc core.
(They also have more of a 'thud' sound when you drop them on a tabletop.)

Glad you're having fun...

HH,
mike

 

[Just coils]

I have really been enjoying.my Nox 900, I have been finding a lot of coins, so far nothing older than the 1960's. I have noticed that the coins from the 60's, 70's, and 80's look pretty good when you dig them out of the ground, but newer coins show serious signs of decay, especially newer pennies are almost unrecognizable. I am in Northwest Arkansas, maybe its the soil mineralization. Anyone else seeing this.

Same in Nevada. No quality on pennies. The Mint may eventually stop making them. Then there goes 70% of my finds. LOL

 

[Tommy Boy]

Same in Nevada. No quality on pennies. The Mint may eventually stop making them. Then there goes 70% of my finds. LOL

Ain't it the truth,

 

[BigTony]

Same in Nevada. No quality on pennies. The Mint may eventually stop making them. Then there goes 70% of my finds. LOL

Don’t worry about cents in the ground drying up any time soon. It’s probably the most lost coin.
Tony NJ

 

[MackDog]

So remember if you find a bright and pretty zinc you might want to save it there won't be many left

 

[erjtej]

I have really been enjoying.my Nox 900, I have been finding a lot of coins, so far nothing older than the 1960's. I have noticed that the coins from the 60's, 70's, and 80's look pretty good when you dig them out of the ground, but newer coins show serious signs of decay, especially newer pennies are almost unrecognizable. I am in Northwest Arkansas, maybe its the soil mineralization. Anyone else seeing this.

Have for years. I am in Central Arkansas and there is a nearby papermill. Lot of acidic contamination in our state from such mills. I think that is the problem.

 

[nwdetectorist]

Sacrificial Metal; you say. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrificial_metal

 

[vlad]

I have really been enjoying.my Nox 900, I have been finding a lot of coins, so far nothing older than the 1960's. I have noticed that the coins from the 60's, 70's, and 80's look pretty good when you dig them out of the ground, but newer coins show serious signs of decay, especially newer pennies are almost unrecognizable. I am in Northwest Arkansas, maybe its the soil mineralization. Anyone else seeing this.

The zinc cents and war time steel cents corrode and come apart quickly and even faster in salt water. The cents are made in the tens and hundreds of millions. (The U.S. Mint has never produced a single "penny" as that
is an English coin. Our money is derivatives of cents: a dime is ten cents not ten pence and a dollar is 100 cents, not pence. While other countries may have a 1/2 penny we do not.)

 

[JAN1]

I have the same over here in the UK, a lot of my finds are Victorian Edward VII and George V & VI pennies which can be in very good condition even having been in the sea for at least 50 years bur the modern coins are rubbish as even a couple of years old are rotten.