When I was a kid, my dad worked at the Standard Oil Refinery in Cleveland, Ohio. A couple of times, he brought home a small vial of mercury for me to "play with". This was before I started collecting coins, and it was also before (early 1960s) the full extent of the danger posed by mercury was known/publicized.
I used to have all sorts of fun with that mercury, including making worn dimes look a lot newer. Just rub it in with you thumb and forefinger and, presto, new dime. Eventually, I lost interest in the mercury when it became dull and full of dust from playing with it on the floor, table tops, etc. I have no idea what became of it. Back then, no one seemed to care.
This is an absolutely true story I and I didn't tell it with the intent of minimizing the danger of mercury. I'm quite convinced that mercury IS very dangerous. It was just a different world back then.
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Posted 03/31/2014 8:43 pm
