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 Replies: 17 / Views: 8,194 |
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Valued Member
United States
103 Posts |
Hi everyone, During a recent coin purchase I made there was a flat metal box containing silver dimes of various dates in cards .......most were roosevelts but there was also a nice selection of Mercury dimes as well.........no 16D though  .......I bought the box along with some other goodies and took them home.......while going thru the coins I saw one that immediatly stood out.....the coin was in a small holder that said American Museum of Atomic Energy and Nuetron Iradiated.........It was dated 1953..........Awesome!!!........now I wonder about the dime somewhat......in its day it was a novelty....supposedly they would glow in the dark........but now I wonder if there are any health risks associated with ownership of one of these?......Would it be ok to resell........do I have to classify as nuclear material....?......can I bury it?....LOL......what is the collector value of an irradiated 1953 silver dime?...... |
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Valued Member
United States
194 Posts |
I don't know about any liability you might incur  but I would love to see a picture. Sounds like a really cool find. Let us know if you start glowing!!! (insert music from the twilight zone) Margaret |
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Valued Member
 United States
103 Posts |
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Moderator
 Australia
16806 Posts |
After 50 years, it shouldn't be too radioactive  . 1953 dimes are .900 silver? Silver has a few unstable, radioactive isotopes with half-lives of a week or so. It would have been quite "hot" stright out of the reactor, but virtually all of this should have radiated away by now. My question is... WHY? "Because we can"? Even for 1950's atomic optimism, that seems a bit blase. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Rest in Peace
United States
3730 Posts |
Off topic a bit, but Coin Nut reminds me of two things that happened when I was a kid. Both still worry me a little.
First, when we went to the shoe store, there was a machine where you could stick your foot in a slot and then look down through a scope and see the bones in your foot, and the nails in your shoe. I played quite a little with that machine while other family members were trying on shoes. This was done during the time where the dangers of radiation weren't yet well known.
Secondly, often times when there was an atomic test blast in Nevada, we would be notified when to go outside and watch for the cloud to float over. I lived in western Colorado, as I do now, and we would run outside and watch the big cigar shaped cloud float overhead, not realizing we were getting fallout.
Anyway, I can only hope that I don't have health problems due to those things I did as a child.
Regarding the dime, of course I know nothing, but to be safe I wouldn't handle it very long.
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Valued Member
United States
103 Posts |
I guess there had to be something sold as souveniers in the gift shop at the museum right?........the why question is a very good one.....even as early as 1953 many of the side affects of radiation were well known......It could be that the dose was minute and would pose no harm to the public........but it might make travel through a modern airport a little difficult.........hehehehehe
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Pillar Of The Community
Turkey
1205 Posts |
Any ideas why the coin was neutron irradiated at the first place?
some kind of test?
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Valued Member
United States
421 Posts |
Edited by Stujoe
03/26/2006 12:15 am
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Moderator
Australia
16806 Posts |
Thanks, Stujoe, most helpful links - especially that first one. To sum up: the coins were sold/given away as souvenirs. The radiation source used was usually weak and the resulting radioactivity didn't last long. The coins don't read above natural background radioactivity today with ordinary geiger counters. The only lasting effect was the transmutation of a tiny amount of the silver into cadmium, which could probably be detected by modern analytical techniques. But check out the Oak Ridge irradiated dime - how long was that one sitting in the beam for? Looks like it's had some serious, visible-to-the-eye cadmium transmutation happening there. Hmmm. Using radiation to give coins pretty colours. Don't think the AT doctors have tried that one... [:p] Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar Of The Community
Turkey
1205 Posts |
OH my goodness! they made silver turn into cadmium, what a shame. Wish they could do it other way  Even if they had 1/3rd of the silver turn into cadmium, they wasted 270.000 USD worth silver for demonstration. Thanks Stujoe for the links  |
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Valued Member
United States
103 Posts |
Very good info Stujoe....Thanks for the links.......although I am still a little puzzled why all the interest in them if the silver was only radioactive for 22 -44 seconds......?
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Valued Member
United States
421 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by CoinNut5
although I am still a little puzzled why all the interest in them if the silver was only radioactive for 22 -44 seconds......?
In that time, radiation was a mysterious thing and these were items that were exposed to this wonderous new power and you could even see it registered on a fancy instgrument (geiger counter)...at least for a few seconds. ;) As for why there is any interest in them today, for me it is a little piece of Americana, a piece of the history of the time. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
524 Posts |
I guess that gives new meaning to the term "hot money".
https://www.brianrxm.comThe Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin Coins in Movies Coins on Television
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Valued Member
United States
421 Posts |
BTW: Here is a picture of one of mine...  |
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Valued Member
United States
421 Posts |
And I found the other one...  |
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Valued Member
United States
103 Posts |
What is the earliest date you have found anywhere? I saw in the info that towards the end of the program they were going to banks and searching for silver dimes to keep the program going........it would be awesome to find a 1916 D encased in one of those.....LOL
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Replies: 17 / Views: 8,194 |
Posted 03/24/2006 11:43 pm
