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Senior Deacon
Why weren't they found until now? Why were the pennies not found were they ignored or missed?
Part of the answer is cherry picking. Every one wanted the silver but not the copper. The other part of the answer is they were simply missed by operator error. The general hobbyist has a limited amount of time and fails to cover the ground properly. He may be under the mistaken understanding that the bigger the coil the deeper the find. Everyone that sees me detect think that my 6.5 inch concentric coil is not going to find anything only modern coins because it can't see the deep targets. It finds coins that they have been passed up day after day. It also finds bottle caps, nails and pull tabs and copper pennies and silver dimes. Remember this fairground is supposed to be hunted out!!!!!
I chuckle to myself when I hear hunted out and i swing a detector over all sorts of conductive targets that are still in the ground.
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Senior Deacon
A penny minted in 1960 is now 60 years old. In 1974 when I got my first detector a 60 year old coin would have been minted in 1914. Back then most of the coins we found were from the late 1930's on. Yes we found lots of silver but silver had been lost for years. Now in 2020 we have had nothing but clad and copper plated zinc coins lost for at least 50 years. Is it any wonder that we come home with so much clad. I am happy to find a 1968 penny at 5 inches as it tells me that some where around there is a piece of silver or there is still good coins waiting to be found.
And i hear ya with the change in the type of lost coins over the years. I look at copper pennies different than I used to. Like you, i see them as an indicator the area hasn't been hunted very well.
Good post SD.
Rich