Fake Quarter - Lead?

Lead is a very soft and heavy metal. should bend easily even without pliers.

I have some bad cast quarters in my black cabinet and they are typically tin, or some derivative of tin. Some even have traces of real silver and gold in them. I really don't think lead would have ever fooled many people because the color and weight would be way off.

I have an XRF scanner and have slowly been trying to document the composition of all the fakes I own. The only problem is, I have like zero time to give to this side project.

If you have no interest in keeping it please don't destroy it or throw it away. Some people would love to have it for their own collection

When I was a kid I made a plaster cast of a penny, poured molten lead into it, and lightly hit it with a hammer to level off the excess lead (yes, I know... stupid). It came out looking much like this quarter.

Also, unless if yours is lead and you decide you want to suck on it for a long, long time, it will not harm you. Take it from someone whose grandfather worked in fishing tackle manufacturing and was making lead sinkers for a lot of his adult life. Died at 85 or so.

I also spent a LOT of time with lead sinkers/pellets all my life. As a kid I poured it all the time into molds I would make. In fact I used to keep a spare sinker in my mouth while wading down streams (trout fishing) before I knew it was toxic. Did this for many years - but had no ill effects and had plenty of medical tests that show I am clean (thankfully).

Toxic? Yes - if ingesting it directly or if one ingests food/water in contact with lead. Even then it may take a long time.

Trace quantities of lead won't hurt you. Back in my day we ingested more far more lead on a sunday drive than you'd get if you sucked on a lead quarter... ...and we liked it.

I'm a little disturbed anyone would want to bend a perfectly good counterfeit.

It's weight is irrelevant unless the thickness is known. We need a specific gravity for composition. The easiest way to get a SG is to weigh it in air and in water.

Despite going through thousands of rolls of quarters I've never been lucky enough to get a fake. ...Unless I just don't remember because of all the lead I've gotten. ;)