Depth of silver/older coins?

[MackDigger]

I found my first silver coin last week (1942 Merc) at a abandoned home site and was astonished that it was sitting right on top of the ground! Then today I pop out a 1945 wheat from less then a half inch of dirt at a local park. My oldest coin (a roached Indian head cent was only one or two inches. So basically I am asking if this is common or if older coins are normally deeper?

 

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[RobRieman]

More often than not they tend to be a bit deeper. But like you have witnessed they can be found at any depth. Too many factors can effect the depth of a coin to mention. I have found clad 10" deep and a 2 cent piece at 1".

 

[MackDigger]

What is the average of the ones you have dug?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

What is the average of the ones you have dug?

Mack-digger, there is no "average". About the only "average" you will find, is site-per-site "norms", for *just* that site. And even THEN flukes will exist.

Turf hunting (parks, yards, schools, etc...) in un-disturbed turf is where there is usually stratification. And each location has its own set of norms, depending on soil type, moisture, how they mow the lawns (whether the mower picks up, or just leaves the mowed grass back down, etc...). So for example at some park turf, the '40s/'50s wheaties and silver seem to start at 5". And to get to the '20s/30s silver, they might start at 7". And then the barbers and IH's are down at 8" or more, and so forth, and so on. At other parks I've been at, sometimes there's still annoying '60s memorials down to 7 and 8" And other parks it's all reversed, where the wheaties and silver start at a mere 3".

But other types terrain can be totally mixed up. Furroughed fields, of course. Or desert dry terrains usually don't lend themselves to deeper depth. Hardpan (like around the base of trees, or under bleachers, etc...) is where old coins can start at a mere 1", etc...

So it all just depends. You will learn the norms by digging a few targets at various depths, of each site you go to. But if you're in a relicky mindset type hunt spot, then perhaps it won't matter, and you're digging everything conductive anyhow.

 

[MackDigger]

How about say a large cent (yet to find one) how deep are they usually?

 

[RotZorn]

Dug my first and only silver coin about 2 weeks ago. It was a '51 Quarter at about 5.5-6 inches. Found it in my yard, and my house was built in 1932. No telling how long it was there really?!?!

 

[dirtwizard]

I dug a 1939 wheat that was just a few inches down today. Thought for sure it would be a newer copper cent.

 

[63bkpkr]

Hate to say it but target depth is just like Real Estate, location, location, location. That's my 2 cents worth and its right on the top.........................63bkpkr

 

[Mackaydon]

Mack,
There is no 'average depth' to find a specific object. The depth you find an object is dependent upon many variables including the quality of your machine, your ability to interpret the various sounds your machine makes, the consistency of the material in which you are working, the angle in which the target lies, your target's metallic composition, your degree of attentiveness, your machine's ability to discriminate and other factors.
Don........

 

[Tim NEPA]

In my area it used to be all coal mines and breakers. If I get a signal at 4.5 inches I know it's something old because there is only soil that deep and then you hit all the waste rocks and coal from the mines. This stuff is very hard and the coins sit on top of it. I get a lot of black rocks that set off my detector in this junk though.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

How about say a large cent (yet to find one) how deep are they usually?

mack-digger, didn't you read my post above yours, or what mackaydon is telling you (that there is no "average depth"). The only time you can deduce "average depths", is at each site you come to (assuming the soil there is un-disturbed, that is). And each site will have its own specifics. At one park, to reach the 1800s, you may figure 7" (for example, and even then, flukes will exist). While at another site, you may need to attain 10" before reaching coins of those age ranges. While at yet another, a mere 3 or 4" may bring you to that age range.

I've found spanish reales, seated coins, gold coins, etc... a mere inch or two deep. While at other places, memorial pennies at 11" deep! It just depends.

 

[Frankn]

There are many considerations that make 'AVERAGE' confined to a certain location. An example is around my area coins lost in the 40's are 3 to 4" down and things lost 200 years ago are app. 10" down. Now in the desert like in areas of AZ and Cal, 100 year old items may be laying on the ground. You also have to remember that the date does not tell when it was lost. Frank...

There is plenty of experienced info before my reply that states the same thing.

 

[MackDigger]

Tim I also live in NEPA and that sound a lot like my experience in many places I have hunted.

 

[Tim NEPA]

Tim I also live in NEPA and that sound a lot like my experience in many places I have hunted.

My FIL says I'm probably hitting the coal ash from when everyone heated with coal around here. They dumped their ashes in the back yard and garden.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Every site is different. Some are neatly stratified and you can almost name the date by the depth. Others are completely confusing with silver from surface to 8 inches, and clad just the same.

Even side-by-side house yards can be completely different.

 

[pennyfarmer]

Got a wheat back in a new coin spill of zlincolns last week. I have also found a silver dime that was a recent drop at a new park. Didn't expect silver so I just threw it in the pouch only to find out it was silver when I got home.

 

[PullTabPete]

I dug a Buffalo nickel at about 3 inches the other day. I was just expecting a regular nickel so I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[Jeremy S]

I found my first silver quarter last summer about 4 inches down in some soft soil at the base of an old tree stump. At a park just across town from where I found the quarter, I have found clad quarters and dimes at 8-10". My first silver dime was about an inch down in the yard of a 1940s vintage house.

It really depends on how soft the ground is, and how much foot or vehicle traffic it is exposed to. At one of my favorite parks for coin shooting, the ground is real dense and full of packed down sandy soil. I rarely find anything deeper than 3 inches, which makes retrieving coins real easy and fun. In areas where the ground is soft, you typically find more moles which could cause a coin to sink deeper over the years by them digging tunnels.

 

[badpenny]

I dug an 1875 Seated Liberty at about two inches, in the middle of no where... figure that out.