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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;SanClem, post: 2521426, member: 81964&quot;]Ever since my pocket piece (a cull Morgan dollar) left me for a hotel maid, I had the idea of replacing it with a large Roman AE. But since I run on unleaded I never pulled the trigger, having read that the Romans sometimes used leaded bronze after the 2nd century. </p><p><br /></p><p>My understanding is lead on hands isn&#039;t dangerous as long as you keep them away from your face and food. Since I incessantly fiddle with my pocket piece -- out of the pocket(!) -- I need a lead-free one to avoid becoming the topic of an after-school special. When I came into some leftover lead test swabs I thought, here&#039;s my chance. </p><p><br /></p><p>The 3M lead test swabs don&#039;t tell you exactly how much lead is present, but there is a relative gradation between pink (enough lead to be considered &quot;dangerous&quot;) to maroon (&quot;call the hazmat team&quot;). My test candidate was a late 3rd century bronze. Pink. So they worked. They also stained the coin, so important lesson there. </p><p><br /></p><p>I had lots of damaged 1st and 2nd century candidates, so I kept testing until I ran out of swabs (they&#039;re designed to be single-positive, but you can get multiple uses out of each swab by cracking them open and applying the fluid directly as long as you do it quickly.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s the results: every As, Dupondius, and Sestertius I tried contained at least a pink level of lead, and virtually all quickly turned dark maroon. Ironically, the 3rd century test piece fell in the lower lead group.</p><p><br /></p><p>My takeaways were: 1) no Roman bronze pocket piece, 2) a red stain on a cull doesn&#039;t improve its appearance, and 3) a reminder to wash hands after touching bronze coins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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