Best way to Dispose of Plated Cents

Follow your own intuition or if you live in a community with a local numismatist ask him or her. Good luck

 

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It's not a numismatic question, though, any more than "what should I do with this newspaper that's soaked in rat poison" is a question for an editor.

If they were plated with silver or chrome or zinc, I'd say "spend them". With mercury, it's still a little tempting to say that -- like others here, I grew up in a time when kids were allowed to poke at the stuff, and there's just a tiny quantity on these coins. But there have been good suggestions already in the thread (dispose of them with fluorescent-bulb waste or mercury-thermometer waste).

Whatever happens, nobody needs to call the EPA.

 

WHATEVER YOU DO - do not let Salvador get ahold of them, we will be seeing each one of them for the next several years, with him wanting to know if any of them are errors.

 

I always wanted one of those bar tops with the thick clear epoxy coating with coins buried deep in the epoxy...... Well, that would require a project..... But I like @desertgem idea and would encase them in something prior to disposal. I am afraid the fluoresce tube disposing guy may see a handful of change in the bottom of his barrel and take them out.

 

In chem lab when we were testing for different elements, I would always mention to the students that they could spit in a test tube and it would test positive for mercury.

 

I hope your not recommending burning them. Correct? If mercury is present it will vaporize and could be inhaled. One could become as mad as a hatter if not dead.

 

If contamination is your concern, I'd suggest taking them to a metal recycler and tell them what they are, or find a local metal plating company and take them there. They deal with heavy metals and likely have some mercury in tanks anyway. Just a couple ideas. Good luck.

 

don't forget the mustard.

 

Outdoor fire, don’t stand downwind

 

I have the feeling that we are going to see them again here in CT.

 

CT deals with @Heavymetal

 

Maybe my son-in-law can help you with the heavymetal...

 

It may not be obvious in the picture, but these are all 50's and 60's dated quarters that are a shiny silver color.

I don't know for certain that they are mercury - but I know it was common at that time to do that.

 

uh...cents

 

I have absolutely no idea why the neurons misfired on that one. Haha.

 

When I was a kid we used to take mercury out of thermometers and play with it!! It didn't bit me a hurt!!!

 

I am new here, but yes, that was a joke. Maybe not funny to you, but I chortled.

 

Probably more Mercury exposure eating a salmon caught in Lake Ontario
The chemical builds up in the fatty tissue
The big fish eat the little fish
Not rocket science kids

 

My home is 35 miles from Pulaski, NY and the Salmon River
25 pound salmon are caught there
I don’t eat them or fish for them
Children and pregnant women avoid consumption