What depth

[DJR]

To Bill,John, and anyone else out there who wants to respond.

At what depth do you guys find the older coins (average depth)? I am curious I have heard and (read on here) it does not really matter but like all things old it should be a certain layered depths from natural filling and such. I find my clads at up to 10" so I really don't think it matters or does it?

Don

 

[ivanll]

The area where the coin(s) is found determine the depth.
I myself as a pre teen have found a small coin from 1719 in my grand parents garden.
A Gold coin was found on top of the ground by eyes only, in resent years in a still active mining town in WA Aust.

ivanll

 

[John-Edmonton]

Where I live, my oldest average at about 4-6 inches. That's in grass on old sports fields and in the woods. There is nothing beyond those depths, unless there has been some landscaping. That's why I really like Garretts for coin hunting. The information the machines give ie, target probability, depth reading and size save me so much time digging the better targets.

 

[KRT (Ont)]

I am in Ontario Canada and have been detecting since 74 and most of my old coins are at the 3 to 4 inch depth.I found a 1917 half dollar at less than an inch. So it just goes to show you that old doesn't always mean deep. HH Ken

 

[Uncle Willy]

There is no set depth for old coins ( unless someone buried them at a given depth ). This myth continues to persist that all old coins are buried halfway to China. They ain't. As I've stated a hundred times I have dug coins from the 1700's at two inches and clad at eight inches in the same plot of ground. The age of a coin has absolutely nothing to do with its depth. Mother Nature has everything to do with depth but you ain't never going to figure her out. If an area has been land filled then all coins will be deep or out of reach but barring that old and new coins can be anywhere depth wise.

Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

Exactly my point and a perfect example.

Bill

 

[Dave0]

I AM IN TENNESSEE AND I AM FINDIND THE OLD ONES AT AROUND 7 TO 9. I AM FINDING THEM WITH MINELAB NOT GARRETTS. SORRY. I HAD A GTI 2500 AND JUST WAS NOT GETTING TO DEPTH I THOUGHT I SHOULD GET WITH THAT MACHINE.

 

[DJR]

Thanks guys

I read alot of archeological assessments with my job occasionally when the developers are about to start construction and the indian stuff is at 2 levels here in Florida about 12'" with one prehistoric group and 18'' from another so I figured stuff from the 1700-1800's might be at "X" level and newer stuff at shallower depths.

Just a curiousity question.

I seem to find everything at the 4-6 inch depths (sometimes less).

Don

 

[John 'n' W.Va]

When I lived in Fl., I loved to find places that had a lot of shells on top of the soil. The old stuff would be there. I found a 1839 cent at 4" in such a place.

In Sanford Fl. I found most of my wheat's at 6" + in the easements.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Sea shells or rifle shells?

Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

7 to 9 is about average in some spots. Did you use all metal on your 2500? A few years back I recovered three Barbers in one hole at a measured 14 inches underneath a tree root with the 2500. I've never had any problems with depth with any of the Garretts but some folks do for whatever reason.

Bill

 

[marcomo]

There is no set depth for old coins ( unless someone buried them at a given depth ). This myth continues to persist that all old coins are buried halfway to China. They ain't. As I've stated a hundred times I have dug coins from the 1700's at two inches and clad at eight inches in the same plot of ground. The age of a coin has absolutely nothing to do with its depth. Mother Nature has everything to do with depth but you ain't never going to figure her out. If an area has been land filled then all coins will be deep or out of reach but barring that old and new coins can be anywhere depth wise.

Bill

Bill and John - You guys have experience and skills that make me look like a newborn baby when it comes to dirt fishing, so help me with this.

Bill, you say that the age of a coin has nothing to do with its depth. But isn't something likely to sink deeper as it spends more time in the ground?

I realize that newer coins are sometimes found deep and older coins are sometimes found shallow, but my limited experience has been that in undisturbed ground it's usually the other way around.

In fact, the large majority of my obsolete coins are found at 4" or more and the large majority of my new coins are found at 4" or less.

John, you say that there is nothing in your ground past 4-6 inches? Why? I don't mean any disrespect, I know you're great at detecting. I just can't understand why stuff would stop sinking at 6". Is your ground really dense with mineralization?

It would seem logical to me that the reason most older coins are found at 6" or less is because with most detectors targets start getting iffy or silent beyond that.

If I'm unduly perpetuating the myth, set me straight!

 

[John 'n' W.Va]

Sea shells or rifle shells?

Bill

[size=x-large]Sea shells [/size] mark the old spots on Fl.'s soil.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Sinking has a lot to do with the compostion of the soil, the amount of leaves and dead vegetation that falls on the ground annually, the weather ( including freezing and thawing ) , natural catastrophes ( such as floods ), landfill, excavations of all kinds, plowed fields in farming areas, and a host of other reasons. All coins in every area don't just sink at a given rate each year. I've found a few older coins just under the surface, less than a half inch down.

Bill

 

[slingshot]

I understand that the earth's soil, over a period of time, actually overturns and thus some older coins come to light? Not to mention the natural erosion process. Any earth scientist's out there?

 

[DJR]

I guess I started it Bill...sorry...

I just know from a "historical perspective" that there are these "historic"layers that these things are found and am well aware of weather effects and all that wonderful stuff (cause I hunt those places every chance I see them i.e washouts) but I guess I am refering to an "unaltered" site that has had no interference...I guess you can say naturally. I can see our modern clad at the upper most layers and the older stuff say at 4-6 and the even older stuff from 5-8 etc...It was just a curious thought that came across my mind the other day after reading an arch survey and wanted to ask.

I am glad to see the interest though.

Sorry again Bill

Don

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah that's been a controversial forever. No one has figured it out yet. Only Mother Nature knows and she ain't talking.

Bill

 

[treasurefiend]

I would say out in parks I find old coins at about 5 to 6 inches but I have found the odd ball coins like last year I found an 1894 V-Nickel at maybe an inch and on the other end I have found clad down at 10+ inches.

Out in the woods I usually find old coins around 7 to 8 inches deep but out there roots can bring up coins as I just found a barber dime like 2 inches deep a few weeks ago.

With that being said, I hardly ever hunt parks, they are just too trashy and I'm not too interested in clad counts anymore, I LOVE to go out and hunt old trails and old camp sites out in the woods so I pretty much dig everything out there.

 

[upnorth]

There is no set depth for old coins ( unless someone buried them at a given depth ). This myth continues to persist that all old coins are buried halfway to China. They ain't. As I've stated a hundred times I have dug coins from the 1700's at two inches and clad at eight inches in the same plot of ground. The age of a coin has absolutely nothing to do with its depth. Mother Nature has everything to do with depth but you ain't never going to figure her out. If an area has been land filled then all coins will be deep or out of reach but barring that old and new coins can be anywhere depth wise.

Bill

Bill and John - You guys have experience and skills that make me look like a newborn baby when it comes to dirt fishing, so help me with this.

Bill, you say that the age of a coin has nothing to do with its depth. But isn't something likely to sink deeper as it spends more time in the ground?

I realize that newer coins are sometimes found deep and older coins are sometimes found shallow, but my limited experience has been that in undisturbed ground it's usually the other way around.

In fact, the large majority of my obsolete coins are found at 4" or more and the large majority of my new coins are found at 4" or less.

John, you say that there is nothing in your ground past 4-6 inches? Why? I don't mean any disrespect, I know you're great at detecting. I just can't understand why stuff would stop sinking at 6". Is your ground really dense with mineralization?

It would seem logical to me that the reason most older coins are found at 6" or less is because with most detectors targets start getting iffy or silent beyond that.

If I'm unduly perpetuating the myth, set me straight!

Buddy, when I read that the majority consensus is that that is no set rule for coin depth, I accept that and move on. It has been explained that various factors influence depth. Of all the various reasons for John not finding coins much beyond 6" sinking depth realise this: Western Canada was settled only recently, basically since the 1870's after the railroads came in. In eastern Canada and the earlier and more densely populated parts of the U.S., you have more immigrants/pioneers dropping more coins, at an earlier date. Think in terms of when euros arrived and population densities. I find North West Mounted Police 45-75 shell cartridges fired from Winchester 1876 lever action rifles, and uniform buttons, out here at various depths because the fields were plowed. Many factors involved, as explained.