Not quite sure how to word this

[JoAnne]

and make any sense. Has anyone ever noticed how long it takes something to become buried. In one year how much can you expect an object (lets say a coin) to get covered? If you find something say an inch down can you assume it has been covered or lost for a certain period of time? I know many factors would come into play (weather, frost, etc.) but just curious if anyone has ever figured this out approximately.

Can you tell I have time on my hands? Just waiting to go to the local stock car races if they do not get rained out. JoAnne

[JoAnne]

Thank you Free

[rip]

all depends ! i have found coins from the 1800's at 2 inches and memorial penny's at 8 inches.Read were someone tyed a string to a gold ring and tossed it in the surf and it sank 2 feet in minutes !

[Wyatt Earp]

Pete...That assumes that items don't sink...but rather just lie on top of the ground and get covered with soil in time. If I used that equation, the 1943 quarter I found a couple days ago would have taken 128 years to reach a depth of 8 inches. The coin's only 63 years old.....and looks to have been circulated for 15-20 years prior to being dropped. Figuring this one was dropped in 1956, the year the park was built....then it laid there for 50 years and reached a depth of 8 inches.

There too many variables to estimate how long it takes things to sink in the ground. Things in rocky or hard ground may never sink more than an inch, while items in loamy and/or moist soil could sink rather quickly.

I've also heard folks say that a coin will sink one inch per year.....but I've found silver half dollars that were less than 2 inches deep that had obviously been in the ground for 50 years or more. Surface area and the coin's orientation come into play too. Halves, though heavier, have lots more surface area than say, a dime...and probably sink much more slowly than the dimes under comparable conditions. I've dug one silver half on edge at a depth of 6 inches.

The answer to your question, Joanne......is there's no "pat" answer. There are just too many variables involved to make any kind of generalization.

Wyatt

[JoAnne]

Makes sense Wyatt - I had a feeling there were too may things involved to give a standard answer. Makes one stop and think however. JoAnne

[Mr.Silver]

The average coin depth is as follows:
>1" Deep-all clads and 1964 Kennedy Halfs
>2" Deep-Silver Roosy. Dime's
>2½" Deep-Wheats,silver nickels,silver Washington Quarter's,+ Franklins Half's
>3" Deep-Mercury Dime's
>3½" Deep-Buffalo nickel's,Standing Liberty Quarter's+Walking Half's
>4" Deep-Indian Head's
>4½" Deep-"V" Nickel's,Barber Dime's,Barber Quarter's,Barber Half's
>5" Deep-Flying Eagle Cent's,Seating Dime's
>5½" Deep-Sheild Nickels,Seating Quarters
>6" Deep-Large Cent's, Seating Half's
Taken from a book written by Patrick Fahey in 1981

Mr.Silver

[JoAnne]

Thanks everyone for all the information on this subject. It is appreciated.

[Ant]

I think it all depends on the density of the coin and the soil medium, temperature and moisture content, etc.
For instance, a coin will work its way down faster in sand than it will in clay. I know, that’s common since. Not to mention what angle the coin is sitting on the surface.

My 2 cents.

[montyburns]

Depends entirely on to what environmental factors the coin is exposed. And that's the truth! MB