Coin

1917 Liberty Silver Half Dollar: 365 ppm Lead + 203 ppm Mercury (899,400 ppm Silver). Not a good fidget for kids.

1917 Liberty Silver Half Dollar: 365 ppm Lead + 203 ppm Mercury (899,400 ppm Silver). Not a good fidget for kids.

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Silver coin 60-second reading Lead (Pb): 365 +/- 43 ppm Cadmium (C): non-detect Mercury (Hg): 203 +/- 54 ppm Bromine (Br): 19 +/- 11 ppm Chromium (Cr): non-detect Vanadium (V): 794 +/- 522 Copper (Cu): 95,300 +/- 600 ppm Zinc (Zn): 100 +/- 59 ppm Silver (Ag): 899,400 +/- 1,600 ppm Tin (Sn): 2,920 +/-…

Sonoma County Community Blood Bank – Blood Type Token (vintage?): 262 ppm Lead + 13 ppm Cadmium.

Sonoma County Community Blood Bank – Blood Type Token (vintage?): 262 ppm Lead + 13 ppm Cadmium.

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XRF test results for the coin / token pictured. 75-second reading Lead (Pb): 262 +/- 30 ppm Cadmium (Cd): 13 +/- 9 ppm Mercury (Hg): non-detect Bromine (Br): non-detect Chromium (Cr): non-detect Iron (Fe): 468 +/- 37 ppm Nickel (Ni): 100 +/- 44 ppm Copper (Cu): 875,400 +/- 500 ppm Zinc (Zn): 122,800 +/- 300…

Faux 1922 Peace silver dollar with skeleton head: 1,639 ppm Arsenic. Please don’t use collectable coins as fidgets.

Faux 1922 Peace silver dollar with skeleton head: 1,639 ppm Arsenic. Please don’t use collectable coins as fidgets.

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Introduction (for those new to this website): Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005). Since 2009, Tamara has been using XRF testing (a scientific method used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety…

Vintage faux-antique coin from Greece: 542,300 ppm Lead [54%] + 2,144 Cadmium + 2,705 Antimony. Bad news all around.

Vintage faux-antique coin from Greece: 542,300 ppm Lead [54%] + 2,144 Cadmium + 2,705 Antimony. Bad news all around.

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Faux-Antique Greek Coin The owner of this coin told me she got it at a shop in Greece. She said there was a bowl of them at the shop and the owner of the shop was giving them away to patrons of his shop as a souvenir. Souvenirs like this are especially concerning as the…

Seattle Space Needle collectors token. Tested positive for 1,245 ppm Arsenic using XRF technology.

Seattle Space Needle collectors token. Tested positive for 1,245 ppm Arsenic using XRF technology.

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Seattle Space Needle Collectable Token Arsenic (As): 1,245 +/- 164 ppm Selenium (Se): 11,000 +/- 800 ppm Zinc (Zn): 153,700 +/- 2,400 ppm Copper (Cu): 824,900 +/- 4,200 ppm Bismuth (Bi): 985 +- 168 ppm Chlorine (Cl): 7,018 +/- 3,099 ppm Some additional reading that may be of interest: More coins we have tested and…

Replica “piece of eight” bought at 2019 Oregon Renaissance Faire: 1,497 ppm Antimony-a known carcinogen. NOT A TOY!

Replica “piece of eight” bought at 2019 Oregon Renaissance Faire: 1,497 ppm Antimony-a known carcinogen. NOT A TOY!

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When tested with an XRF instrument the copy / replica / “toy” “Pieces of Eight” coin pictured here (an item which was purchased at the Oregon Renaissance Festival / Faire in the summer of 2019) had the following readings: Chromium (Cr): 204 +/- 127 ppm Antimony (Sb): 1,497 +/- 213 ppm Zinc (Zn): 985,300 +/-…

1996 Dave And Buster’s Collectable Coin: Lead Free [29% Zinc, 70% Copper!]

1996 Dave And Buster’s Collectable Coin: Lead Free [29% Zinc, 70% Copper!]

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Recently a reader of mine (and actually a long-time friend in the Lead-poisoning prevention world) contacted me to ask if I had ever tested one of these Dave and Buster’s coins. I was not at all familiar with Dave and Buster’s, but I looked it up and this appears to be a coin similar to…

2018 U.S. “Copper” Penny: 579,100 ppm Zinc & 419,200 ppm Copper. No Lead, No Cadmium, No Mercury, No Arsenic.

2018 U.S. “Copper” Penny: 579,100 ppm Zinc & 419,200 ppm Copper. No Lead, No Cadmium, No Mercury, No Arsenic.

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Below is the full set of  XRF test results for the 2018 U.S. copper penny pictured here: Details: Metals not detected are not listed Tests are done in “Consumer Goods” mode Testing instrument is a Niton XL3T XRF instrument by ThermoFisher Scientific. Both sides of the penny were tested multiple times to confirm the results….

#AskTamara: This one is for the kids! Q. “Hey Mom! What’s a penny made of?”… XRF test results for a 1976 U.S.A. penny

#AskTamara: This one is for the kids! Q. “Hey Mom! What’s a penny made of?”… XRF test results for a 1976 U.S.A. penny

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Introduction (for those new to this website): Tamara Rubin is a federal-award-winning independent advocate for consumer goods safety and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children, her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005. Since 2009 Tamara has been using XRF testing (a scientific method used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission)…

#LeadPhree: 2015 Phish Summer Tour Collectible Coin – Bend, Oregon

#LeadPhree: 2015 Phish Summer Tour Collectible Coin – Bend, Oregon

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When this collectible Phish coin was tested with an XRF instrument it was negative for lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic. For those curious about what kind of metals are in something like this, here’s the full XRF summary for this item. In general this sort of thing seems like a good choice (in terms of…