Rotten zinc penny

[73 Springfield]

I went to a tot lot to practice a bit. There was a sand volley ball court also, and I never got a hit of any kind there. So I went over to the tot lot. They had all metal slides and swings etc. so the area to search was greatly restricted. The sand was loose for about the first 3 inches, then it was a hard pan. I found a 1972 penny that was totally green gunge, and a zinc penny that I don't think I could spend it's so rotten. It's gained thickness and is crumbly. On my third hit, the MXT told me it was a Zinc penny. It was down in the hard pan, so I used my sand scoop and scraped away until I got a hit in the sand pile I was making. Then I scooped, all the sand ran out, and nothing. I swept the pile again, and I had several hits, with nothing large enough to stay in the sand scoop. I filled the hole, figuring that it was a rotten penny that broke up from my scraping. I've found a lot of zinc pennies lately that are almost unidentifiable, and it doesn't seem like they need to be in the ground very long for them to rot away. Also clad quarters and dimes seem to rot also. Is it the soil where I live, or does everyone have this problem. I find this at the beach where one would think the salt would cause it, but the soil here is not salty.

 

[Bentfork]

Springfield,

Zinc pennies are worthless after a few years in the dirt. It doesn't have to be salt water or soil with a high concentration of salts for them to decompose. Soil high in alkali or limestone deposits will cause them to decompose fast too. About 1 of every 10 I find looks like it has body cancer. The other 9 are questionable as to wheather they will go thru a coinstar machine. Check out the ugly coin thread. You'll see so good ones there. Since you mentioned hard pan, then you are probably hitting limestone or desert alluvial soil. Where I live we don't have much limestone, but it's alluvial soil with alkali and that makes a hard pan 2 inches below the surface. When it rains good, the digging is like digging at the beach. I see from your intro thread you are in Oregon 2 hrs from the beach. Yep, you're in the west of the Rockies Miocene deposits. Lots of limestone and hotter than blazes sometimes. Welcome to hard rock detecting. Go for the relics. So where specifically are you? I travel up that way frequently

G.

 

[rcasi44]

You can't ignore those rotten zinc pennies. My biggest gold ring measured 57 which is what the bad zinc's measure on my detector. Besides the ring I earned $200.00 from Whites for the story. Rob

 

[73 Springfield]

I live in Roseburg, OR but this particular penny was in a tot lot in San Luis Obispo, CA a week or so ago while we were down there for a visit.

 

[Bentfork]

SLO receives a fair amount of rain throughout the year. The penny could have been in the sand for a long period and the sand held the wetness against it. Zinc pennies in general are trash. About the only thing that decomposes faster is a mason jar lid buried for a while. They are zinc too. All you can do to clean up a zinc penny is tumble it. Then it may be just as ugly and missing some real estate.

G.

 

[leslie(nova scotia)]

same here

From the land of the Bluenose....same here as the coins are made so cheaply now. Old coppers and the acidity in the soil from pine trees really degrades them fast too! keep the faith sir.

 

[Anne Bonny]

Nasty little Zinkers

Those pesky little pennys can drive you nutty,the thing is, is that many a good target will register like a zinc penny on any detector.Also realize that the old Mason jars that people used to bury money in are Zinc as well and im sure that nobody wants to miss one of those if their coil passes over it. All the zinc pennys i find that are badly eaten go into my trash apron, and change machines wont take grotty pennys.Ive found too many of them to count.They are kinda like pulltabs.You have to tollerate them to get the good stuff.If you run your discrimination high enough to ignore them you will leave the goodies behind for someone else.Oh by the by. Many Indian Head Pennys often read and are seen by a dicriminator as a zinc cent.Lord only knows how many indian head pennies i walked over before i found that out.