| Author |
 Replies: 21 / Views: 19,132 |
|
Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
your health?
|
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1903 Posts |
You can't really "plate" anything with mercury. Mercury is a liquid at room temp. It disolves into other metals or if you use enough mercury, some metals will disolve into it. It can also be used to soften other metals such as silver to make it more workable. As for the toxicity, it is only detrimental to your health if it gets into your bloodstream or nervous system either through contact or inhilation.
Edited by unholyroller
08/20/2011 7:07 pm
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
553 Posts |
I am no doctor, but I would certainly think it would be.
|
|
Rest in Peace
United States
1729 Posts |
Inhalation? Hm. I don't remember sniffing the wheaties we coated with mercury in third grade, so maybe that's why we kids survived. No one called in a hazmat team and shut the building down, either, but that was in 1954, and such things didn't exist back then. I also just rubbed the dirt off the carrots when I pulled them out of the ground. I apparently survived eating worm doo-doo, too. Didn't affect me at all * tic * tic * tic ...
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4541 Posts |
I have a few dimes stamped in mercury  but all jokes aside I would say you shouldnt touch it if its possible |
|
Valued Member
United States
178 Posts |
Quote:
Mercury is a liquid at room temp  |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
564 Posts |
I would not worry about it. Just don't put the coin in your mouth. The mercury should be dissolved into the coin. How can you tell?
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
687 Posts |
I believe that small amounts of mercury will form an amalgam with the copper in a cent, in effect coating it with a mercury/copper alloy. I'm not a chemist, so that's my uneducated guess - please correct me if you know for sure.
I'm not sure if that's dangerous, but I've got one from my father in-law and (since I'm paranoid) I won't handle it with bare skin just to be safe. Mercury probably won't harm you in small amounts, but it's one of those elements you're best to avoid contact with. A little dirt on carrots is much safer.
|
|
Valued Member
 United States
70 Posts |
Quote: would not worry about it. Just don't put the coin in your mouth. The mercury should be dissolved into the coin. How can you tell?
I am going on how it looks. It has a very shinny look. And, someone has tried to copper plate over that, and it has peeled away from the mercury in places.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
178 Posts |
Quote:
Just don't put the coin in your mouth. Mercury or not I dont think I'd put any coin in my mouth. |
|
Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
I just did not want to sell or show it to someone and hurt them. I know the coin has been altered. It is supposed to weigh 3.11 grams and it weight is 3.2 grams.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1903 Posts |
Are you sure you aren't just looking at a zinc core cent ( ones made during and after 1982 )? These cents only have a pure copper skin on the outside of a pure zinc core. If for whatever reason the copper were peeling away it would expose a shiny silvery core, just as you describe.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
Are you sure you aren't just looking at a zinc core cent ( ones made during and after 1982 )? These cents only have a pure copper skin on the outside of a pure zinc core. If for whatever reason the copper were peeling away it would expose a shiny silvery core, just as you describe. It is a 1944 D The edges are a mercury color and a little copper color and there are shinny spots on the front and back of the coin. I checked it with a magnet and it is not steel.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
584 Posts |
Master6238  I love it.... Mercury or no Mercury hahahahah |
|
Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
On one or two occasions as a kid I 'plated' a couple of copper coins with mercury.
I had no idea of the danger. In fact, I have quite a few mercury amalgam tooth fillings, that have been there for over 40 years. In this situation, the mercury is locked into the fillings as an alloy, (with mercury, the alloy is known as an 'amalgum'), so there is no problem.
There is also no problem with stainless steel cutlery, where the iron is in alloy with the poisonous heavy metals chromium and nickel.
So why is it such a big deal?
Merely handling mercury 'plated' coins does not present much of a risk. But the way I 'plated' them is where the danger lies. I dropped a small bead of mercury on the surface of the coin and rubbed it into the surface of the coin with my bare fingers. In so doing, some of the mercury is forced into skin and then gan get into the bloodstream.
There is NO ONE who is prepared to say that such a practice is not dangerous. For me, I only tried this stupid trick on a couple of small coins only. At least, I can say that I have not poisoned myself enough to suffer the effects of Minimata Disease.
Google:
'minimata disease', and you shall see what I mean. You won't rub mercury on the surface of coins after reading up on that disease.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
There is also no problem with stainless steel cutlery, where the iron is in alloy with the poisonous heavy metals chromium and nickel. Not sure how Stainless Steel got into the story, but if you look up Stainless Steel, you would find there are almost hundreds of variations of that item. This is why items from Pakistan or China can state Stainless Steel and then it just rusts and/or tarnishes away. Putting Mercury on a coin is to insignificent an amount to really do any brain damage. However, if you already have a start in that direction, more Mercury is not recommended. Moree than likely that coin could have been plated with almost anything on Earth in a high school Chem lab. The 1943 Steel Cent is a great example where they are plated with Zinc, Tin, Chrome, Copper, etc. And too so many coins are polished with Jewlery Stones and a buffer, difficult to tell what you really have. |
| |
Replies: 21 / Views: 19,132 |
Posted 08/20/2011 4:41 pm
