How to?....Remove coins from an acrylic toilet seat

Wouldn't all these chemicals be kind of harsh on the coins?

 

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I almost bid on a 1958 Proof set in a lucite paperweight. Then I came to my sences. Now reading this I wish I had bought it. It only went for $12.50.

 

Over 30 yrs ago my father worked for a place that had a drum of MEK in the back of the building. Well, the drum sprung a leak sometime during the day and ran across the parking lot and flattened the tires on all the cars it came in contact with, it actually melted the tires! Potent stuff!

 

<"I have had complete success extracting coins & medals from paperweight-size Lucite by placing the Lucite object overnight in the freezer, then taking it to the garage cement floor , placing it down on top of a blanket and hitting the uncovered Lucite directly & sharply once or twice with a hammer . The frozen cold Lucite shatters and you can extract the coin. I emphasize use a blanket because sometimes the coin will go flying when you hit the Lucite and you don't want the coin to hit the cement and dent. Also wear some sort of glasses so Lucite shards don't fly into your eyes. It works!">

I would try this method before using the chemicals. It is safer, but probably won't work. The downside is that you might leave a nice crack in the garage floor that will cost more to repair than the coin is worth.

 

pennywise! that's a crazy story! I believe it.

 

Is there a fourm for toliet seats? I bet there is......however I'm thinking your seat is circa 1960 as plastics seats with coins were invogue! Of course there is always E Bay...I 'm sure there is someone out there who will put their money... well not were their mouth is! Paddy

 

If all else fails....

thermite

 

A good fuming gas attack to crack or melt the darn thing

 

You might be much better off by just getting photos of all the coins in the seat and listing it on Ebay as-is. I'll bet a lot of bidders would be interested in attempting the same thing you're thinking about.

Plus, you can list it in coins as well as bathroom categories!

 

Yeah, and you'll get to PAY MORE FEES for listing in TWO categories too! Whoo-hoo! eBay wins again!

Seriously, I'd never buy a used toilet seat, especially off eBay... may even be against certain hygiene listing policy.

 

Placing coins in plastic has been around for a long, long time. Back in 1959 I did the above and one nice thing is the coins still all look new. As to removing coins from plastic encasements, I'd just forget it. The cost of all the necessary solutions, equipment, your time, etc may just not be worth the trouble. Any mistakes with combustable materials may also prove expensive and lots of doctor bills.

 

My father use to cast his junk penny's and half penny's in acrylic back in the 60's, polish them all up 1st and sell them to tourists LOL Do you have any pics of the toilet seat in question?

 

I'd use an electric or pneumatic grinder/cutter and cut it up so each individual coin was separate, then figure out my second move, maybe the freezer or the chemicals. Either that, or drill holes all over the seat about an 1/8" larger in diameter than a M80, fill the gaps with epoxy, then insert the M80's in each hole, tie all the fuses together in series, throw a quilt over it and watch her blow. You may want to get good and drunk first, the say "Hey guys, watch this!". Please take video!

 

IMO the freeze and hammer method will work and it is cheap and relatively safe to do. Go for it!!!

Bruce

 

Dip it in liquid oxygen dd:

 

I think liquid nitrogen is probably easier to find...at least I have seen it/used it a lot more.

 

@ Goldstone

Break the suspense!

Break this proverbial piggy-potty-bank already!

...and show pics of the process: before/during/after, and coin closeups!!!

:mouth::bigeyes::hail::bigeyes::mouth::bigeyes::hail::bigeyes::mouth::bigeyes::hail::bigeyes::hail::bigeyes::mouth::bigeyes::hail::bigeyes:

 

Lets keep in mind that of course it won't work, but it is cheap and safe. :computer:

 

Dry Ice/Liquid nitrogen/trip hammer.

 

Freezing is the way to go because of the big differences in the rates of thermal expansion. Also the plastic becomes brittle at low temperatures. So the colder you can go the better. That's why I like liquid nitrogen. Cheap, easy to get, extremely cold and no chemical waste disposal after you are done. Freeze it, whack it, the plastic shatters and you're done.