Best way to Dispose of Plated Cents

No worries, he’s gone ;-)

Salvador Villalobos
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Kind of thought it was, usually best to use a smilie since we can't hear your intonation or see your face.

 

You could see if your local coinshop or jewler has one of those handhelp precious metal analizers.

 

I thought you were supposed to flag down a flying saucer to get one of those?

 

Analyzer is the safe one

I had some spelling issues on my previous post

 

@physics-fan3.14 The following link doesn't answer your question, but does say that elemental mercury is nontoxic. So all you members who played with broken thermometers as a kid are safe

https://www.mayocliniclabs.com/test-catalog/Clinical+and+Interpretive/8618

I found this paper explaining how to convert Hg to HgS using sulfur (somebody recommended that earlier). If you want to play chemist, it may be worth a try.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10473289.2011.608615

Note: I just skimmed the article and didn't dig into the details. Maybe @Kentucky or other resident chemists can offer feedback on the linked method

 

But it goes on to say that microbes in the environment and in the human gut turn elemental mercury into the forms that are highly toxic.

On the other hand, it does get excreted over time, so our childhood indiscretions probably aren't causing continuing damage.

 

Put them in a jar, Dig a 1ft hole in an old area with a note explaining what the coins are and the date of burial. Some guy with a metal detector would get a kick out of finding it!

 

I remember the first student I had to break a mercury thermometer, the stockroom lady had me to cover the area with powdered sulfur and then, at the end of the lab, to sweep it up into a baggie for her to dispose of.

 

bury them, or toss into the ocean

 

All you young guns are afraid of your shadows. When us old foggies were kids we had Gilbert Chemistry Sets and Gilbert Atomic Energy Labs. We played with mercury and radioactive elements. Just because we all have liver diseases, kidney failure, non reproductive organs and three nipples doesn't mean you should fear Hg.

 

i remember mine had cobalt in it, lol

 

Only 3 nipples?

 

Well they glow in the dark.

 

You seriously think a Mercury dime contains mercury? I can't tell if your joking or not.

 

He was last seen here in March. We may never know.

 

In sixth grade, I got the science teacher who had us write a report on an ancient civilization as our first assignment. I didn't do well in her class.

The other science teacher was the one who let kids push mercury around the palms of their hands until it fell onto the floor and disappeared into the wood joints.

I'm thinking that the sweet spot is somewhere between that second science teacher and "evacuate the building because an old thermometer broke".

 

Probably cobalt chloride, a compound of cobalt, just like sodium chloride (table salt) is a compound of sodium and not the metal.

 

That was what came in mine. For making the "pink when it's humid, blue when it's dry" paper.

 

yup