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 Replies: 23 / Views: 6,619 |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Ive been looking a while to no avail. I'm waiting for an irradiated Mercury dime in an Oak Ridge capsule. Any ideas? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8515 Posts |
Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8515 Posts |
I just noticed you being overseas might be a problem with those.
Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts |
I recognize this from Theodore Grey's book. I still have a nice little collection of radioactive artefacts that are legal to own.
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Pillar of the Community
 United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Huh, couldnt see an Iak Ridge lab one on ebay. Perhaps its only visible from the US. How much are they listed at? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1511 Posts |
I'm actually the (single... So far...) bidder on one of the two oak ridge ones in the link above.. My bids at $14.99 free shipping.. It seems they've been selling between $15-$16 with shipping included. I'm pretty sure it's a stock photo of the two oak ridge ones, both photos are the same... But that's ok by me.. For once I'm not buying by the grade but rather what its cases in. And the seller has sold other ones by reading his feedback.. There's also a bunch of irradiated dimes on the bay, only 2 oak ridge national neutron laboratory, but many more are inclosed in a "shell" that says "American museum of atomic energy"... (Edit* I should add that both were made at the same place, I just like the holds that says "oak ridge" better...) (Please nobody bump my bid.. Lol.. There's another one to bid on..  ) Edited by NathanASE
09/13/2013 9:07 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts |
I have a working Geiger counter, so I'll gladly test anyone's irradiated dime if they provide return postage - however, the longest-lived radioisotope of silver is Ag-105, with a half-life of 41.29 days. This tells me that there will be no radioactivity left from the original irradiation - the 10% copper content is even worse off, with the longest-lived radioisotope being Cu-67 (61.83 hours).
So they are safe to own and probably completely nonradioactive.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
621 Posts |
neat, anyone know where I could learn more about these?
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Right here!
In the atomic age, radiation was novel. One thing they did was irradiate dimes. a visitor provided a dime which was placed into a machine. In the machine was a Neutron source which bombarded the silver nuclei in the dime, changing its isotope. The silver isotope usually produced by this was radioactive and this was proved with a geiger counter within the machine. It was cased and returned to the visitor. Over a short period, the radioisotope decayed and the dime became less and less radioactive. Today, it wouldnt be observable against background radiation.
There are 3 holders - Museum, World Fair and Oak Ridge labs. Oak ridge was a secret town set up during WW2 to house the manhattan project but after WW2 it qas declassified. The reactors there were used to irradiate dimes and produce nuclear weaponry.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1109 Posts |
I got one of the American Museum of Atomic Energy capsuled dimes at an antique store for $6.00 a while back. Never really gave much thought to it until now.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1432 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8515 Posts |
Ben were you ever able to look at the listing ? If you need any help acquiring it, I'm willing to help.
Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
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Pillar of the Community
917 Posts |
Wow thats pretty neat I didn't even know these existed. I may have to pick one up. I have a hunk of Trinitite it would look nice next to.
Edited by LincolnGuy
09/14/2013 2:20 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1599 Posts |
If my mom was still with us, I could ask if she saved any. She worked at Oak Ridge while my dad spent 28 months carrying a 60 pound mortar around France and Germany. My mom passed in December, my 90 year old dad lives with me; he has some great stories to tell!
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Pillar of the Community
917 Posts |
Quote:
If my mom was still with us, I could ask if she saved any. She worked at Oak Ridge while my dad spent 28 months carrying a 60 pound mortar around France and Germany. My mom passed in December, my 90 year old dad lives with me; he has some great stories to tell! Sad to hear about your mother, but that is really neat she worked there. Both of your parents lived in a hard time. They are both part of American history. Thank you father on my behalf he is a true American hero!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
621 Posts |
Thanks for all the info on these dimes guys, they are really cool.
jprine, thanks to your parents(sorry bout your moms passing. while I'm at it thanks to all of our veterans and current military members.
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Replies: 23 / Views: 6,619 |
Posted 09/13/2013 7:44 pm
