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Custom Brass Coin And Lead

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New Member

United States
1 Posts
 Posted 08/07/2015  05:12 am Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add ocp to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
I have been tasked to have 2 custom coins made up for a company, a challenge coin and a smaller version. After working out the design and specs I found a mint that would work within the budget given. Material wise the best options were zinc or brass. After doing some basic research it seemed that brass was a more durable option. Long story short I didn't realize that some brass had lead. The moldings are done, the samples were made and production was in process when I by chance heard about lead being used in brass. As of now I have had production stopped while I figure out what to do next.

Iv been told that the lead content is 0.1%, which is under the California standard of 0.25%. Being that low of a percentage, it's considered lead-free. From what Iv read, "lead-free" depending on the restrictions, can range from under 4% to 8%. It seems California has higher standards then the rest of the country in that regard.

The smaller coin will have a hole in it for being a potential pendant or just coin itself. So the concern is the lead, is 0.1% something to be worried about? Specially if it's going to be touching the skin via a pendant. From research, drinking water brass pipes can have an higher acceptable levels. Production is half way done and switching to zinc would require a new mold to be created as well as basically throwing out the brass ones already done. It was supposed to be a very simple project and now it's become a potential problem. I figured asking people in the coin community would be a good place to start. Thanks for your time.
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rage1398's Avatar
136 Posts
 Posted 08/07/2015  07:17 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add rage1398 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Brass is more durable and doesn't corrode like zinc. Zinc coins will corrode over time, and will become white and powdery.

Because you are saying that there is small amounts of lead in brass drinking water pipes and California has a higher lead allowance amount I would assume that the brass coin would not harm anyone. It does not seem like a lot of lead, it is one tenth of a percent of lead.
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TypeCoin971793's Avatar
United States
6370 Posts
 Posted 08/07/2015  08:25 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add TypeCoin971793 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I feel that there is no problem.

Think of it this way: for every 999 parts of the brass alloy, there is 1 part lead. So if your coin weighs 5 grams, the lead content is 0.005g. The high end of a normal amount of lead in the bloodstream is about 0.0005g. So if you are worried that someone would eat the coin and the coin dissolving completely in the person's digestive system, I feel there is no real worry.

Hey, modern pennies are far more apt to dissolve than brass, and babies poop them out just fine.

References:

https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/2584/ (I did a little conversion from micrograms to grams and estimated the amount of blood in a human to be 5 liters)
Edited by TypeCoin971793
08/07/2015 08:26 am
Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts
 Posted 08/08/2015  4:04 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add just carl to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Why not just make them out of pure Lead. Would help keeping the population down. Just kidding you know. The Chinese are doing that already on the toys they sell us.
Use Copper. Just as easy to make them and as long as not in the wrong humidity area, should last a long time.
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Jaobler's Avatar
United States
6381 Posts
 Posted 08/09/2015  12:12 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Jaobler to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Concerns about lead toxicity are wildly exaggerated IMO. Unlike the lead compounds in, say, lead-based paint, metallic lead as found in sinkers, shotgun pellets, and brass alloy is insoluble and essentially harmless. Go ahead and make those coins with a clear conscience.
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jbuck's Avatar
United States
187702 Posts
 Posted 08/10/2015  10:44 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jbuck to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
Concerns about lead toxicity are wildly exaggerated IMO. Unlike the lead compounds in, say, lead-based paint...
And gasoline way back when.
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