Why does relics and coins sink in the ground?

Thanks for all the info guys, this is quite fun to do.... coin on edge I will put one in... In fact has just been done  



If you look on the flat coin, you can already see dew on it.... Things are happening 

Great idea... Cache, what happened to you is what we are looking for   Great job guys.....

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pgill,  In the late 60s I was relic hunting on  the west end of Santa Rosa Island off Pensacola Florida after a hurricane passed over and the storm surge had washed the coastal dunes away . I came across bottles and some civil war age relics (shell fragments) that were exposed and waiting to be picked up.   Mike C. who I was hunting with said that If you drop a coin on top of a sand dune In a year it would be at the bottom of the dune. I think about this when I hunt in sand. The next time I go to the local beach beach as an experiment I will throw out some coins on top of a dune and gps the location. Here in Florida we have almost all sand. I have been working a sandy site that has a lot of heavy old iron and crockery that was dropped from the 1880s to 1945. From the test holes I have dug I find almost every thing is still in the top 18 inches of the sand but not everything. Below the 18 inches of topsoil the sand turns white or light yellow and appears undisturbed. If you sift it you will find an occasional piece of crockery or glass. I suspect the older coins are in this layer too but it is too deep for the detector. Why the heavy Iron does not sink deeper is a mystery. gambol

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		Quote:			Posted by Pgill
	Karl, thanks for your interest  Gambol, please throw those coins and let me know what happens, I do not think it will sink to the bottom of the dune  I think an item sinks till the ground gets too compact for it to go further, then only what goes on top of that with leaves, soil from the wind etc will build it up to a deeper depth. I think a coin will only sink in the loose soil.... Even my test bed, I am not expecting drastic moves.... But we will see

Peter I just pm you with my plan.I'll be dealing with the compact soil in this experiment in my yard.

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		Quote:			Posted by Pgill
	Karl, thanks for your interest  Gambol, please throw those coins and let me know what happens, I do not think it will sink to the bottom of the dune  I think an item sinks till the ground gets too compact for it to go further, then only what goes on top of that with leaves, soil from the wind etc will build it up to a deeper depth. I think a coin will only sink in the loose soil.... Even my test bed, I am not expecting drastic moves.... But we will see

Well I think it's a cool experiment , I was just joking at first about u doing this and taking pictures , But I am glad u decided to do it. I think the results will facinate all of us!!

Good Luck to You!

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"Keep Digging Its Down There Somewhere" Treasure Hunting, Gold and Coins.

Hi Pgill
Please let me know in about 30 years time what the results are.......Oh wait we've only got till December 2012....you really should have thought of this sooner.
Jokes aside though...What I have often stood and wondered after a find is why I am finding 1800's pennies at let's say 30 cm and then I find a 1945 6 pence at 50 cm in the very same area.

 I haven't read all the posts here, so I may be repeating someone else's comment, but what I have figured out is that root action can do some really weird things with coins and the like. I also think that the density or size to weight ratio comes into play here too. A coin is relatively light for it's surface area as apposed to a musket ball....if you know what I am getting at.
Not a scientific opinion , just an observation.

Nice experiment though......you must be bored again!
Cheers
Viking

Posted on: March 24, 2011, 04:01:12 PM

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Hi Pgill
Please let me know in about 30 years time what the results are.......Oh wait we've only got till December 2012....you really should have thought of this sooner.
Jokes aside though...What I have often stood and wondered after a find is why I am finding 1800's pennies at let's say 30 cm and then I find a 1945 6 pence at 50 cm in the very same area.

 I haven't read all the posts here, so I may be repeating someone else's comment, but what I have figured out is that root action can do some really weird things with coins and the like. I also think that the density or size to weight ratio comes into play here too. A coin is relatively light for it's surface area as apposed to a musket ball....if you know what I am getting at.
Not a scientific opinion , just an observation.

Nice experiment though......you must be bored again!
Cheers
Viking

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