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[Gojira1000]

   Is it just me, or does coal remain rare as diamonds - moreso, actually. Perhaps it's all been used up in diamond production?
   With the new trees its not really an issue as you'll have magma before you run out of Presto-logs, but it's odd. Anyone else noticing the lack?

[JoshBrickstien]

My first fort had both Lignite and Bituminous Coal on the surface. Maybe it's just you.

[Niyazov]

Coal only occurs in sedimentary layers, which are often associated with "flux stone" on the site locator (although this can also indicate marble, which is found in metamorphic layers). Consider increasing the mineral occurence in worldgen to make it more likely that any given site with sedimentary rock will have coal.

[Gojira1000]

Yep, I always embark on flux. That's why it seems odd. May just be a run of random luck.

[CaptainArchmage]

Yep, I always embark on flux. That's why it seems odd. May just be a run of random luck.

Make sure you turn up the mineral frequency up, in the range of 100-300 on a custom world, where lower values produce more minerals, though it will cause trouble with the embark screen showing flux. With very abundant minerals, the embark screen will not mention the existence of flux even if there is flux on the map.

[Gnomeknows]

Ya I've had the same issue, since I started playing DF, not a single embark has had lignite or coal.

[Codyo]

It will probably help if you embark on a mountainside if you're looking for minerals, soil and flux.

[slothen]

You can only find coal by

1) dumb luck
2) graduate degree in geology

[CatButcher]

Several of my embarks have been overflowing with coal.  I think it might be your dumb un-luck.

[Gnomeknows]

wouldn't dumb un-luck be luck?

It will probably help if you embark on a mountainside if you're looking for minerals, soil and flux.

Kewl ill have to try that.

[Verjigorm]

I've had better success looking for coal at the bottom of swams and watersheds. 

[Detharon]

I thought it's just me being unlucky. Contrary to what I'd expect, I hardly ever find any coal, but I keep finding... gold veins.

[vjek]

This embark (the second one in the post) works for 40.03 as well.

Here's layer 133 (Dolomite Layer stone, Hematite Ore, Lignite Veins) , embark layer is 137.

Spoiler: picture (click to show/hide)

The dark/unrevealed areas are aquifer. (tiny!)

[Orange Wizard]

If you can't find coal, you should look for biomes that are relatively flat, like low-lying swamps and forests. These areas are generally more likely to have sedimentary rock layers, and in turn, coal.
As always when looking for specific minerals, DFHack's prospect tool is your friend. It hasn't been updated for the .40 release yet, though.

[Melting Sky]

From what I have seen increasing mineral frequency doesn't increase the how likely a site is to have coal but rather how much of it there will be if it is present. I haven't thoroughly tested this specifically for coal and my observations were primarily from the last version but I don't think any of the geology code has been rewritten.