Currious question

[porchdawg]

I am sure this has been asked before, but how is it a peeny can be found 3-6 inches deep and a clad quater can be found in 2-3 inches deep and both be in the same area. Why doesn't the heavier coin go deeper? I have noticed this time and time again. Oh and the heavier coin is usually older. Go figure

There are so many variables that come into play with that. From when was each coin dropped / how wet was the ground / how much activity was there on the site / was one dropped in the snow and the melting moved it / or was it dropped in the dry summer.
Then of course there is the Mother Nature question. Plus what type of soil is it / how compacted was the soil when it was lost.
I bet this answer didn't help at all.

[Metalman]

I think Boobie has touched on some viable answers ,, but the mass of the coin also needs to be considered,, it is much harder to sink a quarter due to the larger surface area,, than it is to sink a cent or a dime coin.

Resistence is directly related to mass.

Metalman

You are correct Metalman.
That never dawned on me.

[PABill]

The other variable may be if the coin is laying flat or standing on end. Soil conditions have to be the biggest variable.

......the SURFACE AREA of the coin, and its weight (mass) are the two main reasons that it is harder to sink the larger coins!

[porchdawg]

No wonder I failed Physics.

[GroundScrounger]

I would say, just guessing, that a coin wont sink much while flat but when tilted or end on end, Thats when it slips down under. I checked an eroded area once, just to get at what may have sunk three feet deep. It was at a camp ground and the flat land broke away into a sand bar at the rivers edge.
With gold prospecting, your looking for bedrock because this blocks the sinking gold. keep this in mind. We have a park thats oh 70 years old,and it has a fish pond constructed of huge slabs of bedrock. The grass has grown over most it and what lays benieth is 3" of soil and 3" of real hard clay. In an area like this, youl never have to dig more than _" deep?

Jeez...wish I could say I found An old one in those spots, but I'm new to this.

[GroundScrounger]

Just because the earths been shaped and contoured for the new Walmart dont mean it's only good for new coins. What was there before Walmart? What may have been dug up from 6 feet deep shuved around and came to rest just benieth the surface?