How deep is your silver?

[Timebandit]

Guys,
I was out for several hours today and broke a silver drought with a ‘46 Rosie at about 8” on a bouncy iffy signal on the Etrac. I hit a 12-45 once in my swings but mostly bounced with only a few 45’s. I dug it and new it was silver as soon as my pin pointer placed it in the center of the hole. Question... can you guys tell me the average depth of your silvers and what type of dirt your digging? I pulled this one at 8” in black soil but my usual silvers come in about 4”-6” and most of that is in clay under an Inch or 2 of topsoil.

 

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[Truth]

Yeah I have to deal with this Louisiana clay myself.

 

[Sandancer]

That's a tough question. My shallowest, a Rosie right on the surface without a grain of sand on it, the deepest, a standing Liberty 12 inches down in boggy dark soil.

 

[Timebandit]

12”....that’s deep. What kind of machine did you hit that one with?

 

[CaptEsteban]

I have to deal with the sandy soil in Florida. It gobbles up coins & many are gone forever. I have dug so many coins that date in the 1960's, & they are already 8-10" deep !

 

[Stringtyer]

I have to deal with the sandy soil in Florida. It gobbles up coins & many are gone forever. I have dug so many coins that date in the 1960's, & they are already 8-10" deep !

This post brings up a question that I know has no definite answer. I’d there a general rule for estimating sink rate in various soil types?

 

[buck8point]

Yeah I have to deal with this Louisiana clay myself.

Yea.. Me too....
Must be highly Alkaline cuz it just eats coins up.. most come out in just horrible shape.. new pennies barely last a year or two and dissolve like an alka-seltzer... lol

 

[Jason in Enid]

There is no real answer to your question. First, if someones detector can only see a coin 4 inches deep in their soil, thats the deepest you are going to get as an answer. Next, a different detector may be capable of 12 inches in that same part of the country.

Now, to make it even more confusing, the "depth of silver" changes dramatically over very short distances. I have a site where silver and other coins lost as far back the founding of my town in 1893 have been 18" deep and there there could be more deeper still. Yet a few blocks away I recover silver and similar dates coins at all depths including sitting on the surface.

Plant growth, irrigation, fertilization, mowing practices, shade trees, freeze and thaw cycles and other factors all play a role in how deep targets get before we dig them.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Yea.. Me too....
Must be highly Alkaline cuz it just eats coins up.. most come out in just horrible shape.. new pennies barely last a year or two and dissolve like an alka-seltzer... lol

Thats not the soil, its just the nature of the shitty one cent coins produced at the mint.

 

[Jason in Enid]

This post brings up a question that I know has no definite answer. I’d there a general rule for estimating sink rate in various soil types?

Coins dont sink. Soil is not a liquid medium. Coins can be pushed down, but mainly they are covered by decaying plant matter, dirt, sand, etc. This is why the vigorous the the turf grasses grow in a spot, the faster that coins reach their nominal depths. Look at the depths of coins in forested areas where the ground has almost no turf grasses. As a rule, barren ground have very shallow coins and fertilized and irrigated "lawns" have much, much deeper coins.

 

[GoDeep]

Coins dont sink. Soil is not a liquid medium. Coins can be pushed down, but mainly they are covered by decaying plant matter, dirt, sand, etc. This is why the vigorous the the turf grasses grow in a spot, the faster that coins reach their nominal depths. Look at the depths of coins in forested areas where the ground has almost no turf grasses. As a rule, barren ground have very shallow coins and fertilized and irrigated "lawns" have much, much deeper coins.

I respectfully disagree. Soil very much takes on a fluid state, especially after a rain, it can be so saturated as to be equal parts water and soil. Think of it as throwing your coin in a bowl of grits, mud, oatmeal, cherry pie, jelly filled donut filling, fresh cow dung, a good old chocolate malt, wet sandy beach, etc etc. Also, dry soil is lighter and less dense then a coin of copper, silver or gold. Heavier metals will thus sink lower and lower given temperature changes, frost heaving, freezing and thawing cycles, not to mention rain which changes the density and fluidity several times a year. Throw in worms and other burrowing subjects and coins will sink, even if no debris or organic matter is ever deposited on top.

 

[Jason in Enid]

I respectfully disagree. Soil very much takes on a fluid state, especially after a rain, it can be so saturated as to be equal parts water and soil. Think of it as throwing your coin in a bowl of grits, mud, oatmeal, cherry pie, jelly filled donut filling, fresh cow dung, a good old chocolate malt, wet sandy beach, etc etc. Also, dry soil is lighter and less dense then a coin of copper, silver or gold. Heavier metals will thus sink lower and lower given temperature changes, frost heaving, freezing and thawing cycles, not to mention rain which changes the density and fluidity several times a year. Throw in worms and other burrowing subjects and coins will sink, even if no debris or organic matter is ever deposited on top.

Nope, completely wrong. Coins are denser than rocks and concrete, so according to your reality a coins will sink through the sidewalk too. Soil is also NOT liquid because it rains. Water in the rain moves between particulate spaces as it drains. The soil particulates do NOT becomes suspended in the water. If soil became liquid because it rained then 90% of the buildings in the world would have sunk. AND they would have sunk after the first rain after being built.

 

[GoDeep]

Nope, completely wrong. Coins are denser than rocks and concrete, so according to your reality a coins will sink through the sidewalk too. Soil is also NOT liquid because it rains. Water in the rain moves between particulate spaces as it drains. The soil particulates do NOT becomes suspended in the water. If soil became liquid because it rained then 90% of the buildings in the world would have sunk. AND they would have sunk after the first rain after being built.

Buildings have deep footings, which often extend to bedrock or to gravel to prevent sinking or the soil is heavily compacted. A building built on just soil will sink, lean and have uneven floors. Also, soil very much becomes an effectual liquid state(I believe the technical term is plasticity), a good visual example is a landslide, wheareas the soil literally flows.

Also, a coin won't go through concrete despite being denser due to concrete being a bonded solid unaffected by water. Just because something is denser, doesn't mean it can't support something more dense. Soil's particles will separate as they are not bonded to each other and can be pushed aside, whereas, concrete or a rock won't.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Buildings have deep footings, which often extend to bedrock or to gravel to prevent sinking or the soil is heavily compacted.

No, they don't. Footings are deep enough to not suffer from frost heave. Again, the vast majority of all buildings are built on pure soil, no bedrock, yet these building haven't sunk in hundreds of years. Strange.... its as if the soil is actually compact enough to support the load, and NOT becoming liquid every time it rains.

What good would gravel do? It's denser than the soil, so it would sink, just like the building on top of it.... except none of it is really sinking

 

[GoDeep]

Soil very much can effectively become a liquid state.

Heres a further brief read for you on how plasticity of soil is determined and how it too becomes a liquid state when excess water is present:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atterberg_limits

 

[Jason in Enid]

Soil very much becomes a liquid state.

Heres a further brief read for you on how plasticity of soil is determined and how it too becomes a liquid state when excess water is present:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atterberg_limits

Your wiki skills are weak. The artificial mixing of a clay substrate with water to achieve a specific "liquid" state in a laboratory setting has 0% bearing on compacted turf soils with or without rain.

try again, this is fun proving you wrong.

 

[GB1]

i don't dig much silver coins i have two quarters they were at 2 in. but i have 3 silver nuggets i found around in the woods at 5-7 in.

 

[GoDeep]

No, they don't. Footings are deep enough to not suffer from frost heave. Again, the vast majority of all buildings are built on pure soil, no bedrock, yet these building haven't sunk in hundreds of years. Strange.... its as if the soil is actually compact enough to support the load, and NOT becoming liquid every time it rains.

What good would gravel do? It's denser than the soil, so it would sink, just like the building on top of it.... except none of it is really sinking

What good would gravel do you ask? Naturally occurring gravel beds are usually found below the soil layer and just above the bedrock, they can support more weight then soil, but not as much as bedrock. Soil is finer, and much less resistant to separation then gravel, compacts easier and thus can't support as much weight. Lighter structures can built upon gravel, heavier buildings, like an office building often go to bedrock if possible.

 

[Jason in Enid]

What good would gravel do you ask? Naturally occurring gravel beds are usually found below the soil layer and just above the bedrock, they can support more weight then soil, but not as much as bedrock. Soil is finer, and much less resistant to separation then gravel, compacts easier and thus can't support as much weight. Lighter structures can built upon gravel, heavier buildings, like an office building often go to bedrock if possible.

You are losing your own argument here... First, YOU made the statement adding gravel to building footprints, which has ZERO to do with "naturally occurring gravel beds above bedrock"

Again.... coins dont "sink", because soil is NOT a liquid medium.

 

[GoDeep]

Your wiki skills are weak. The artificial mixing of a clay substrate with water to achieve a specific "liquid" state in a laboratory setting has 0% bearing on compacted turf soils with or without rain.

try again, this is fun proving you wrong.

Huh? Plasticity and water content of soil applies to all types of soil. All have a rate. Heres some more reading. I can provide more information if needed, but my claims are all grounded in science.

I'm curious, have you ever stepped in water saturated soil, did you not sink? Have you ever stepped in mud, did your foot not sink? Have you never witnessed a mudslide? Proof of soils non cohesiveness and apparent liquid state when subjected to water is all around us and observable and measurable.

LIQUID LIMIT OF SOIL – WHAT, WHY & HOW?
Suryakanta | March 7, 2015 | Geotechnical, How To, Soil, Soil Investigation, Tests On Soil | 5 Comments
What is Liquid Limit of Soil?
When water is added to dry soil, it changes its state of consistency from hard to soft. If we add water to a fine grained soil, then water will change its consistency from hard to semi hard. If we continue to add more water then again the soil will change its state of consistency from semi hard to plastic and finally reach a liquid consistency stage. When the soil reaches liquid consistency state, it has remain no cohesive strength to retain its shape under its own weight. It will start to deform its shape. So the amount of water which is responsible for this state of consistency of soil is called liquid limit of soil. In other words we can define liquid limit as
“It is the minimum water content at which the soil is still in the liquid state, but has a small shearing strength against flow.”