How Deep To Dig?

[Eklawok]

I know that this question is subjective, but I am going to ask anyways. For the guys out there who have found, and continue to find, old silver coins, how deep on average are you finding them? Just a question that came to mind as I was out this afternoon picking off "surface" targets at a local park. I know that there can be a lot of factors involved, and I doubt where I am at that I am going to be finding buffalo nickels or anything of the sort. Just a curiosity.

[DDancer]

Depends on the depth of all targets.  Usually you can determine that by the depth registered by you VDI to true depth however VDI has its disadvantages and depth is often mis-advertised.  My suggestion is to look hard at what the VDI says and make a gut choice.  Often targets of desire are laying at a certain level as regards the reading.  Use that info to dig.  It varies from place to place and that is what many of us look for.

[auminesweeper]

I have dug a few deep coins around the 14 - 15 inch mark plus and some things down to about 20 or more, I have dug some monster pits at times,

john

[Eklawok]

1 hour ago, DDancer said:

Depends on the depth of all targets.  Usually you can determine that by the depth registered by you VDI to true depth however VDI has its disadvantages and depth is often mis-advertised.  My suggestion is to look hard at what the VDI says and make a gut choice.  Often targets of desire are laying at a certain level as regards the reading.  Use that info to dig.  It varies from place to place and that is what many of us look for.

Yeah, I have noticed when I get a strong, clean signal, the vdi is usually accurate. It is when it jumps around that things can get a bit iffy. And when digging in the sand that they use in some of the playgrounds around here, the signal can change as material is removed from the top of the target. 

 

9 minutes ago, auminesweeper said:

I have dug a few deep coins around the 14 - 15 inch mark plus and some things down to about 20 or more, I have dug some monster pits at times,

john

Sounds like me digging up a few nails, beer cans, and beaver tails the other day. 

[RickUK]

Its one of those hypothetical questions that you can never really answer and basically because it has so many variables,we are after a metal target with a in theory primitive tool called a metal detector,as we are all aware they dont provide100% true information to the 'operator' because of various external factors ie ground conditions,various mixtures of contents in the item that we are looking for. etc etc

So this is when the human brain and the skill/knowledge of the operator really applies,in my case for the most part i am hunting coins and artifacts over here in the UK,but as we are all aware folks in Aussie land and say Arizona hunt different targets with different machines and they have adapted skill sets to recover those types of targets.

If i was say in a park situation when the main target would be coinage or jewellery that was in say the top 5-6'' then i dig according to the ground situations this being manicured lawns and the like,but if i am on say a deep ploughed farmland situation which my research tells me that possibly that deep targets are in the area,lets use the target as being a hoard then i have to take into account the 'reward to effort' ratio,as some hoards can be pretty deep  but remember we are still using a relatively primitive tool to make our decision on,being either a screen/audio or a mixture of both and the deeper we go the less reliable it becomes.

Some times you have to make a 'pure gut feeling' decision and go for the real deep target and just dig and dig until you set your mind at rest and find out what it is,of course it could be a scrap iron part of a plough at many feet in depth,but also it could be that 'Holy Grail' life changing find which could be say that massive gold nugget or a pot of celtic gold staters etc.

But if you had decided to pass on that target because you dont like digging deep recovery holes,then this is the 'Crux' of the matter is 'He who digs wins. He who hesitates doesn't.' and only you can make that decision yourself based on that information that the primitive tool we call a metal detector has provided.

This still wont answer your question but you can get some idea what we are up against,hence its one of those questions that can never really be answered.

[Carolina Coin Hunter]

In my area silver coins tend to be  7- 10 inches in depth. I rarely pay that much attention to the VDI number exactly. If the tone is good and the depth meter is reading deep, then I figure it's good and go for it. Often times I pass over targets that are shallow, and focus on the faint signals,if the machine has modulated audio. If it does not I'll use the running depth gauge or a quick pinpoint depth as an indication. I get a lot of good targets doing this, and dig a lot less can slaw etc.. at old parks and schools that are still visited frequently. 

[Eklawok]

18 minutes ago, RickUK said:

He who digs wins. He who hesitates doesn't

This still wont answer your question but you can get some idea what we are up against,hence its one of those questions that can never really be answered.

Absolutely correct on the digging part. And while you're right, your explanation doesn't directly answer the question, I loved the explanation you gave. It brought a smile to my face as I read it. 

[argyle]

3 hours ago, Eklawok said:

I know that this question is subjective, but I am going to ask anyways. For the guys out there who have found, and continue to find, old silver coins, how deep on average are you finding them? Just a question that came to mind as I was out this afternoon picking off "surface" targets at a local park. I know that there can be a lot of factors involved, and I doubt where I am at that I am going to be finding buffalo nickels or anything of the sort. Just a curiosity.

 

Our early silver coins had a 92.5%silver and 7.5% copper mix. The later version a 50% silver then copper zinc ect. mix.

Guys specifically hunt these and other Australian pre decimal, along with early British and American coinage.

A lot of this detecting takes place on very mild ground, some of which holds very deep coins due to water soaked ground types.

The silver coins are high conductors of course and bang out loud over ground conductive to detectors.

The ones at the limit of detection, with most good VLF coin detectors that have the ability to give the hint of the required tone at that limit, then degrade them to iron, and also have the advantage of being able to 'size' those hits at the full iron degradation at depth, achieve a higher success rate.

 

The average depth I reckon can only ever be judged by the ground type being detected, regarding depth a coin can sink to, so no real average depth for me there.

With the exception of silver coins on the goldfields. Nearly all are surface, due to the inability to sink. The exceptions being deep coins dropped in tailing piles during the dig, or in gullies that fill with wash over the years and get covered.

 

Just as off-note, the first coin I ever hit with a detector was an American silver with the lady and stars around the outer.

[sjmpainter]

8 hours ago, Eklawok said:

I know that this question is subjective, but I am going to ask anyways. For the guys out there who have found, and continue to find, old silver coins, how deep on average are you finding them? Just a question that came to mind as I was out this afternoon picking off "surface" targets at a local park. I know that there can be a lot of factors involved, and I doubt where I am at that I am going to be finding buffalo nickels or anything of the sort. Just a curiosity.

Eklawok, Silver in Anchorage is hard to find. I think the question is not so much how deep but where to look. Here is a post on the topic.

Most of the tot lots have been revamped with new play areas in the last five years and when that happens they usually dig the sand/wood chip ect. and replace it with new. Most down a foot.

With that being, I notice a lot of the off the beaten path parks do have older coins but the silver is still elusive.  Its very interesting I can find penny and nickels to about 40's - 50's but the dimes and quarters and what not 65 is the limit. The only exception is foreign coins that do not have silver.

I don't want to turn you off, I am sure silver is out there somewhere  just know it will take effort. And if you find one let me know.

HH.

[fredmason]

I find old coins from the surface down to as deep as the detector can see them...Frost, gophers, moles and squirrels can bring them up or take them down. Passing up surface targets is not good policy where I detect. As for buffalo nickels and even V nickels they were still in use into the late fifties...no reason at all why a place as old as Anchorage should not have them... in my never humble opinion.

fred