Coin Gardens and

something Ive been curious about for sometime now. Didnt want to post a dumb question but here goes.
We set up these gardens, trying to be careful of measuring depth for each coin and maybe placing in some trash to try and duplicate a real life hunt. Well, most of you have done this and know what I mean.
And especially as we set coins down deeper,,,,,Do You Think,,,,, as in the real world hunts; our coins in these gardens sink as time goes on and just maybe, especially in some areas where the soil (isnt as dense???)
Is this possible/probable???
Thanks,
John

Hi John, I was thinking the same thing. I think if you would place a big rock or board at the bottom of the hole and put the coin on that it would not go down for some time. I might be wrong but was thinking, sometimes that gets me in trouble. Flintstone

I know some glue the coin to a thin sheet of plastic to make sure it stays flat and this would also greatly reduce the sink rate. I am aware of one who leaves his coin in a 1 inch cube of soil and cuts a side hole at the bottom of his hole and inserts the cube as snugly as possible to eliminate compaction issues. Thinking has benefits!

Past(or)Tom
Using a Legend, a Deus 2, an Equinox 800, a Tarsacci MDT 8000, & a few others...
with my beloved, fading Corgi, Sadie

My evolutionary experiences/refinements:

In my Florida soil........... my test-garden............. the sink-rate is 1" deeper for every 4.5 years. This is also to say............ in 45 years......... a target will sink 10" in my test-garden.
I was having to re-validate my test-garden every 3 months. Not a fun process.
I then graduated to using wooden dowels with the coins glued to the bottom of the wooden dowels. The wooden dowels would completely rot in about 17 months.
I have now switched to PVC pipe (using it as a dowel)....... glue the coin on the bottom............. and ........... depth issue/problem solved. Yes, the entire PVC mass will also sink/bury............ but it is certainly much easier to find....... and re-validate the test-garden.......... as I would only need to sweep surface dust off of the top of the test-garden to find/relocate the PVC tubes.

NASA-Tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > I have now switched to PVC pipe (using it as a
> dowel)....... glue the coin on the
> bottom............. and ........... depth
> issue/problem solved. Yes, the entire PVC mass
> will also sink/bury............ but it is
> certainly much easier to find....... and
> re-validate the test-garden.......... as I would
> only need to sweep surface dust off of the top of
> the test-garden to find/relocate the PVC tubes.


I done the very same thing using PVC pipe back in 1999.
Works great.............see ya yardhunter

I have frequently wondered about the wooden dowel process. I am assuming that you super glue the clad dime (surely not a silver?) flat to the end of the dowel. Then, after the glue dries, cut the dowel to whatever depth you need, and then take a hammer and pound the dowel down into the ground, coin first. The dowel rots away, and ya have a coin in the ground with a minimum of disturbed matrix. Correct?

Kevin.......... that would not alleviate my problem of................ once the stick/dowel rots................... now........... the fast/rapid sink-rate commences............. and my test-garden 'invalidates' at a rapid rate; hence/subsequently............. a PVC/plastic tube will not allow this problem to exist.

My guess is, that you fill/pack the hollow part of the pvc pipe with soil also....don't want an air gap.

I tried dowells and then PVC and wasn't happy with them.

For my latest garden I used 4 inch diameter perforated, corugated plastic pipe from Home Depot. They also sell caps that snap on which I drilled out for drainage. The perforations and drainage holes allow water to flow freely through the pipes so that they don't fill with water when it rains.

A silver dime sits at the bottom of each capped pipe which are cut to different lengths. The pipes are buried and filled to the top with dirt. The tops of the pipes are flush with the ground surface with just the rim of the pipe showing the exact location of each coin.

These coins will stay at the exact depth I buried them for decades to come.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 12/17/2012 12:54PM by Badger in NH.

NASA-Tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Kevin.......... that would not alleviate my
> problem of................ once the stick/dowel
> rots................... now........... the
> fast/rapid sink-rate commences............. and my
> test-garden 'invalidates' at a rapid rate;
> hence/subsequently............. a PVC/plastic tube
> will not allow this problem to exist.


I understand that part. I just wasn't clear what people meant when they said "gluing a coin on the end of a dowel". It would work for me as a quick fix.....in other words, I am looking for a way to get a coin at varying depths for testing of how my ground acts at masking coins. I was uncertain of the actual mechanics of "coin, glue, dowel". But I DO see what you are saying....your sink rate is so fast that this technique (I'm unsure of actually what it entails) would not be wise when trying to get accurate depth measurements.....or something like that. Heck, I'm confused. Maybe it will come to me later in the day. lol

My coin garden which has been planted for 20 odds years just had the coin and yes even a small junk gold ring dropped in the hole and over the years are now reading an inch or two deeper on my depth meter. Imagine coin would have to be affixed to a plastic pipe etc. or will sink depending on your soil composition. Never dug them up but just going by the depth meter...

Kevin,

"Varying depths" with PVC is performed by using several different length PVC pipes. Each individual length of PVC pipe has a clad dime glued to the bottom of it. I have several PVC pipes.......... each one is cut to a different and exacting length (depth)............ with a clad dime glued to the bottom end of each pipe. Each pipe is a non-adjustable/fixed-length pipe............ which/then is driven into the ground until the PVC pipe is flush with the surface of the ground. If the PVC pipe is 11" in length....and has a clad dime glued on one end............ I will then drive the PVC pipe into the ground until it is flush with the ground ... with the end resultant of the dime being exactly 11" deep. If I pull the pipe so as to have ..... say..... 3" of PVC pipe above the ground........ this invalidates the concept/test.......... as the dime is now only 8" below the surface,,,, yet , your coil will need to be passed over the target with a 3" air-gap above the ground.... due to the 3" of PVC pipe above the ground. (((which..... especially in mineralized ground...... provides for interesting and somewhat unexpected results))).

(((Kevin.....did I confuse you more?)))

Badger, how long have you been using this method? By your location, I was wondering what you see in the way of frost upheaval. Last year where I marked my targets with green plastic stakes, I noticed a few of them were sticking out above the ground, some almost an inch, after the winter season. These are just marker stakes that are about 6" long so some don't reach the deeper targets. I figured this might be from frost upheaval and wondered what it does to targets in the test garden.

DirtAngler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Badger, how long have you been using this method?
> By your location, I was wondering what you see in
> the way of frost upheaval. Last year where I
> marked my targets with green plastic stakes, I
> noticed a few of them were sticking out above the
> ground, some almost an inch, after the winter
> season. These are just marker stakes that are
> about 6" long so some don't reach the deeper
> targets. I figured this might be from frost
> upheaval and wondered what it does to targets in
> the test garden.

The garden is only a few months old. It is in some pine woods where the ground is less affected by frost.

I have three silver dimes burried at 10", 11" and 12", and three silver quarters at 13", 14 and 15".

I haven't noticed any change since I buried them and I don't expect any. Even if the ground did change, it would not affect the depth of the coins in relation to the tops of the pipes which are always visible and flush with the surface.

I wish we could post pictures here. That would explain it better.