Ouch! Lawnmower Coins!

[Cool Hand Fluke]

Every once in a while you will find one of these cliped silver coins damaged by a lawnmower. That 1879 is a Morgan Silver Dollar! Ouch!

 

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[bazinga]

Anyway, no lawnmower ever made could slice through a coin so cleanly. Coins like those shown (I have found one silver quarter and one 1890's Canadian cent cut cleanly) must have been sheared with tin snips or something similar.

What's odd is the location of these. There was another poster from CA that used to post a lot of these cut coins as well. I've still never found one.

 

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[Shambler]

My mind is exploding from this thread. I like it. No lawnmowers existed back when barbers were in circulation, at least gas mowers like today.

All of the coins shown could've reasonably been lost in the early 1930's which saw powered (or should I say overpowered) mowers.

 

[gleaner1]

No lawnmower ever could slice thru a coin. The physics are all wrong. Study metallurgy and strength of materials. The coin will bend if it takes a blow. That's about all it will do.

 

[BARGuy]

Probably true when hit by a ROTARY blade.

 

[steve from ohio]

No lawnmower ever could slice thru a coin. The physics are all wrong. Study metallurgy and strength of materials. The coin will bend if it takes a blow. That's about all it will do.

My Dixon 25 hp zero turn mower must not have studied metallurgy because it hit a clad quarter with its very sharp mower blade. Half of it shot out of the mower deck and landed on my driveway about 75 feet away. The other half I found with my detector buried quite a ways down right next to a rock. I've also hit a buried pipe sticking up slightly with my mower and it sliced about half way through....it was a really thick pipe. It did stop the mower blade and was bent over at the cut.

I've also have found one half a gold ring a few years back. The stone was missing and the ring was sliced cleanly through.

I know most people will never find a sliced coin.....but it seems when they are found, it is in the grass. I don't see people walking around with a metal shear cutting coins and then throwing them around.

As far as the strength of materials goes, silver is not really a strong metal. It is somewhat malleable. Take a look at how they used to make coins back in the old days. A hammer and a die. All those cobs found on Florida's Treasure coast were made with a hammer.

Clad coins are nothing but 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel and the core, which is visible along the edges of the coins, is composed of pure copper. Not a combination of very strong metals. The edge of those coins are not very thick.

Maybe this would be a good topic to have on MythBusters?

 

[gleaner1]

Steve, yes, this is a great topic for myth busters. But if you witnessed coins cleanly cut in half by a mower, I believe you. Its just seems that the coin would bend and bounce away before cleanly slicing thru. I am currently sharpening my lawnmower blade and I am going to dump 3 or 4 hundred wheaties into the blades running at beyond safe limits, carburetor forcefully opened beyond factory speed. Pics soon. I may try to get video, but I don't know how to download video yet. I'll bet anyone here one trillion dollars that not one coin will suffer much more than a bit of a gash. Make that bet one hundred trillion bazzilion quadrillion bucks. And I'm talking razor sharp blade.

 

[steve from ohio]

Steve, yes, this is a great topic for myth busters. But if you witnessed coins cleanly cut in half by a mower, I believe you. Its just seems that the coin would bend and bounce away before cleanly slicing thru. I am currently sharpening my lawnmower blade and I am going to dump 3 or 4 hundred wheaties into the blades running at beyond safe limits, carburetor forcefully opened beyond factory speed. Pics soon. I may try to get video, but I don't know how to download video yet. I'll bet anyone here one trillion dollars that not one coin will suffer much more than a bit of a gash. Make that bet one hundred trillion bazzilion quadrillion bucks. And I'm talking razor sharp blade.

Remember to put some resistance on it. The coin I hit must have been sitting on edge. It was on a slight bump in the lawn right near a rock. Possibly that rock was helping with the cutting of the coin. The other half of the coin was buried down right next to the rock. Found it with my detector.

Be careful doing this. Maybe we should listen to the Mythbusters guys as they always say never attempt to do this at home. They are the professionals.

As soon as I can login, I will contact Mythbusters and put it up for consideration.

 

[Shambler]

Study metallurgy and strength of materials.

Does this mean the discussion is over since you're all studied up? I don't believe there were rich people walking around in the 30's and 40's cutting up coins and throwing them in the park. Does that really sound more viable to you? In fact, maybe study psychology and economics instead of metallurgy.

 

[ryclo]

I still say these must have been cut on a reel mower, rotating blade without some counter pressure would only send the coin flying with a gouge in it IMO. This would be a great watch on mythbusters, link them to this thread!!

 

[TORRERO]

You know this is a good topic,
But even though something obviously cut through these coins, (and I have found a few)
There are some things that don't seem to add up...

1st.
I find it hard to believe that there were a great many large and highly powerful mowers
in the 1930's & 40's what I remember from my childhood (1960 - 1970's) is this little
push mower with twirly blades that was not gas powered..
This could not cut a coin....

2end
Most all silver coins I have ever found, I have had to DIG for...
So for me it seems a stretch to say these silver coins were on top of the ground when hit...

3rd . you all are saying that the coin was on edge when it was struck and sliced...
but 95% of all coins land flat, due to gravity...
you also said the coin has to be on edge and half buried to be able to be cut clean like that, but my
mower settings are set so I have 2' inches above the ground so I won't chew my grass to pieces leaving a nasty bald spot... if this is so ... that is way to high to cut a half buried coin...

So lets figure the odd's...

1. Coin had to be on top of the ground

2. Coin had to be on edge... (because everyone says theirs were on edge when sliced)

3. coin had to be half buried so that half was out of the ground and half in.

4. Lawnmower has to be set so that the blades are chewing the ground... One inch above and you miss those dimes or quarters half buried.

5. Or the coin has to fit this description, on a hill or rise where the mower will chew the ground when I roll over it..

6. Mower has to be "Monster Machine" strong enough to slice metal clean through...
And blades have to be razer sharp to slice metal clean through.. (not my mower)

7. Coin has to be silver.... (Only because I have not seen a clad coin sliced like this)
(All clad coins I have seen that are mower hits are mangled and bent, not sliced clean through)

8. Some of these coins had to be on top of the ground, years after they were made or lost... (and in the positions formerly mentioned)

9. Assuming all these factors are in place, then you have to hit that coin just right to slice it without bending it in any other way...

If I were a gambling man, I would not bet on those odds...

I don't know folks....

I don't think I'm buying what your selling.....

 

[TORRERO]

I did want to add one thing to my last post...
Although I have found many obviously lawnmower hit clad coins (all were bent and mangled)
I have not ever found a Silver coin that was bent and mangled, only sliced..
Do you think that ALL silver coins hit by a lawnmower were sliced and none were ever
bent crazy
where are those coins ??

No I have a better explanation....
I know that over the years many people have taken silver coins and made rings, or other jewelry
out of pocket change, they have cut out dimes leaving the rim and insides but no other metal..
they have put coins on RR tracks to see them flattened by trains...
Maybe..... Just Maybe....
30-40 or 50 years ago, there was a hobby that required a boy or girl, man or woman, to take a
knife and cut a coin into sliced pieces, and maybe melt down the metal to make something else..
and maybe, just maybe some of these sliced pieces found their way into a child's pocket...
and from there.... into the ground we hunt... We know that the Spanish cut coins into pieces for change... why is this also not a possibility....
Just a thought...

 

[TORRERO]

Study metallurgy and strength of materials.

Does this mean the discussion is over since you're all studied up? I don't believe there were rich people walking around in the 30's and 40's cutting up coins and throwing them in the park. Does that really sound more viable to you? In fact, maybe study psychology and economics instead of metallurgy.

Well, If your so stuck on your lawnmower theiry... then explain to me that last picture with the silver
quarter and copper Brittish pound...
How can a mower slice that copper Pound like that, and leave no other trace of the mower ?
No other scratches, no dings, no dents, no nothing, just a clean cut in 2 differant place and at 2 differant angles.... how is this possible ?? Are we to assume that it cut it once then cut it again inside the mower ? or did it cut it once and then throw the coin 20 feet and the guy ran over it again and it sliced it again this time at a differant angle.... Whooo so hard for me to believe...

 

[TORRERO]

Interesting thread.

Keep in mind that a clad coin, zinc cent, solid copper cent and solid silver coin will all respond very differently to sharp or dull edged impact at varying speeds.

Something that I thought about only after this...
How many CLAD coins have you found that have been sliced clean through ?
Those Zinc pennies are really soft metal like alluminum... right ?
Has anyone dug a Zinc penny cut in half like this ?
Anyone have pictures of clad coins cut in half like this ?

 

[Shambler]

Dang Terrero! haha. I'll continue this discussion even though I don't think any of us really care how they got cut.

Your 1st - the first powered lawnmowers were in the late 1920's to early 1930's and they were insane. Check one out if you ever have a chance - they're scarey (seriously). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn_mower What I remember in the 70's was my grandfather sitting on the porch, sharpening his blade every week while he listened to the baseball game on the radio, so my history is a tad different. And, since the parks department is the government they most likely have a preventitive maintenance schedule that involves sharpening those blades. I've worked for the Government - and it's almost a certainty.

Your 2nd. The assumption that you drop a coin and it sinks within seconds or that these coins were minted and then immediately dropped is silly. So having dropped them in, say, 1940 in higher grass than normal they could've had an argument with a mower.

Your 3rd. I don't think for a second that the coin hopped up and contacted a blade. In fact the other ones I've seen have scratches all over (like the rosey in the pic) and then a clean cut, which says to me they might've gotten thrown around a bit before they made that fatal contact. BUT, being in taller grass could easly make your theory work on the dollar - not the dimes though. Well, maybe if the dime fell on a tuft of grass or a clump of previously cut grass.

Normally when someone says "let's consider the odds" the conditions that follow are cumulative not singular, but I'll play along for discussion sake (not arguments sake so please don't get angry with me)

1. Coin had to be on top of the ground

Well, yes, in deep grass most likely. That's a good bet since the blades cut above the surface. .

2. Coin had to be on edge... (because everyone says theirs were on edge when sliced)

Again, in deep grass or it got tossed around before the final whack. Getting tossed around first or lying on edge in deep grass is a good bet also.

3. coin had to be half buried so that half was out of the ground and half in.

Really? haha!

4. Lawnmower has to be set so that the blades are chewing the ground... One inch above and you miss those dimes or quarters half buried.

Very wrong - the suction is significant. You've never picked up a rock below the blades and flung it across the street? And, we're talking about much bigger mowers than most people use on their lawns. I've seen one of these mowers pull 6" plugs out leaving the hole for folks to whine about.

6. Mower has to be "Monster Machine" strong enough to slice metal clean through...

Covered.

7. Coin has to be silver.... (Only because I have not seen a clad coin sliced like this)

Since they are obviously silver, this would be an awesome bet

8. Some of these coins had to be on top of the ground, years after they were made or lost... (and in the positions formerly mentioned)

Covered. You don't think you could drop it at 12:00 and the mower come through at 12:15 (or three days later)? Geez.

9. Assuming all these factors are in place, then you have to hit that coin just right to slice it without bending it in any other way...

All of the factors? Haha! Even you know you don't need all of those factors.


What I see is
1. Sharp blade
2. A large high RPM motor
3. A silver coin.

Seem like good odds to me. I'm in!

Lawmowers aren't what they used to be because of this kind of stuff: http://www.lawnmowerlawsuit.com/index.html so finding uncut clad or bent pennies isn't proof that a mower didn't do it.

 

[Captn SE]

You guys crack me up!! This is a good post!!

For all you non-believers, you have to be here in CA to truly see the work/damage the lawnmowers make. Over the past 28 months, I have detected over 110 different parks in Southern Cal. I can state with 100% certainty that lawnmowers were to blame for all of my cut coins. Not all of these parks had cut coins, but some of the bigger parks were loaded with cut coins. For some of you that know me, I'm more of an old coin hunter, rather than a clad hunter, but I do dig any quarter signal, and any deep penny/dime signals that I think may be a wheatie, Injun, or silver coin. I have found countless lawnmower chopped coins.....old and new, at all depths, including silver rings that were cut/hacked up. The lawnmowers out here are mostly the rotary blade type, with a series of blades on each side of the driver. I tried to find one on the John Deere website that looked similar, but none matched the size of these mowers I've seen at a few of the larger parks. The grass grows constantly here, and park maintenance usually mows the grass once a week. After detecting these parks countless times, I knew what days the mowers would be at certain parks. When they drove by me, I could sometimes hear metal being sliced and diced.

Here's just a few of the cut silver coins I've found. Notice how some have been chopped by the blades multiple times before falling back to the ground(i.e. a pinball effect)....on a few occasions, I have found matching pieces of the same silver coin separated by 5-10 ft.

HH,
CAPTN SE
Dan

 

[Cool Hand Fluke]

a lot depends on the size of the mower's engine ---the speed its blades are running at--and how "sharp" the blades are (freshly sharpened or newer blade--vs dull or older blade) -- i had a chunck of metal pierce a houses aluminum siding as a teen from a riding mower I was driving --if it had been a person it could have killed em .-- dangerous stuff things flying from under the deck of a riding mower

I believe the lawn mowers used by the park maintenance crews have quite a bit more horse power than your average home mower. I've seen those large tractor/mowers in the parks around northern Calif.

I saved a few of my clads that have been cut by lawn mowers. I'll post some of those tonight.

 

[gleaner1]

Well I just can't get over lawnmower blades slicing thru coins like butter, but Captn SE surely has the proof! I better get back to my metallurgy and physics books.........

 

[Tim L]

Every once in a while you will find one of these cliped silver coins damaged by a lawnmower. That 1879 is a Morgan Silver Dollar! Ouch!

Ouch is right! If I found a Merc or Morgan like that I'd die. I found my first Merc a couple of weeks ago and it was Number 1 on my list of things to find, it would have been brutal to see one come out of the ground like that!.

 

[RandyNorthridgeCa]

Even your cut coins are great Nice finds!

 

[Cool Hand Fluke]

I've probably found a hundred of these sliced up clads. I've thrown most of them out but managed to save a few.