I think these were sold in the 60 s

PTVETTER

Do you remember these?
What years?

CaptHenway

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/996634/irradiated-dimes-what-are-they-and-are-they-collectible-photos-updated/p1

tincup

I've always liked those!

johnny9434

some day ill spot a few of them, nice save

Klif50

Thanks for the link to the old post. I have picked these up for years as a novelty but never delved deeply into them. I am going to have to pull the box out and take a look and a trip down memory lane.

Mr_Spud

I always liked those too, I think I have a couple, here’s one

MWallace

https://orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/medals/irradiated-dimes.html

encasedcoins.info/irradiated.html

tincup

And just in case anyone new to these has any concern about radioactivity with these.... what very tiny little amount there once was is looooong since gone.... very short lived isotopes if I remember correctly. (though if I was still in my old job, would be neat to do a long gamma isotopic count!)

Klif50

Funny story, I had 2 that I put up for my Grandkids. Gave them to my daughter a week or so ago for them. Asked her if she had given them to the kids and if they liked them. She said no, they were wrapped in tin foil and locked away in the safe until they are at least 18. I told her there was no residual radiation and she said "not taking a chance anytime soon". Now I have to come up with another neat gift. I think I will give them each a Capitola Flour Token from my childhood in the 1950s. One will be worth 25 cents in trade and the other for a free movie admission. Grandmother got 2 of them in the big bags of Capitola flour (I think the 20 pound bag) and they came in a little white envelope. With one of each I could go to the movies on a Saturday, get in for free and get a box of popcorn, a coke, a Sugar Daddy and a hot dog and watch a scary movie. Maybe they will like that story.

Tibor

Bought dozens of these in the 80's and 90s. Still have them squirreled away somewhere.

..

I bought a few and other than an extra ear growing out of my forehead and a strange big toe that popped up on my hand I never noticed anything strange. 😬

oih82w8

Those are pretty cool! I may have to look into those, both Mercury and Roosevelt types.

MsMorrisine

they didn't grow to 100ft and eat nyc?

tincup

Well... learned something new about those dimes. I always 'assumed' they were irradiated in batches, then placed into the vending machine where they could be purchased. But no... they were actually irradiated on the spot!!

"The following description is from what I believe was a 1954 press release from the American Museum of Atomic Energy:

"One of the most popular exhibits in the American Museum of Atomic Energy is a "dime irradiator." To date, more than 250,000 dimes have been irradiated, encased in plastic and returned to their owners as souvenirs. The irradiator works as follows: A mixture of radioactive antimony and beryllium is enclosed in a lead container. Gamma rays from the antimony are absorbed by the beryllium atoms and a neutron is expelled by the beryllium atom in the process. 

These neutrons, having no electrical charge, penetrate silver atoms in the dime. Instead of remaining normal silver-109, they become radioactive silver-110. After irradiation, the dime is dropped out through a slot in the lead container and rests momentarily before a Geiger tube so that its radioactivity may be demonstrated. It is then encased in the souvenir container. Radioactive silver, with a half-life of 22 seconds, decays rapidly to cadmium-110 (In 22 seconds, half of the radioactivity in each dime is gone, in another 22 seconds half the remainder goes, and so on until all the silver-110 has become cadmium). Only an exceedingly minute fraction of the silver atoms have been made radioactive." 

The irradiated dimes were 90% silver and 10% copper. The silver consisted of equal amounts of Ag-107 and Ag-109. The absorption of the neutrons by the silver converted some of the Ag-107 to Ag-108m (400+ year half-life) and Ag-108 (2.39 min half life). Similarly, a few atoms of the Ag-109 were converted to Ag-110m (250 d half-life) and Ag-110 (25 s half-life). The bulk of the activity that was produced was due to the Ag-110 and, to a lesser extent, the Ag-108. Both of these radionuclides decayed away very quickly, within minutes. By the time the visitor was leaving the Museum, there was almost nothing left. The only activity that might be detected today would be due to trace quantities of Ag-108m, but it would require long counts and relatively sophisticated equipment. I could not detect any in the three coins in the collection.

Approximately two thirds of the copper was Cu-63 and one third was Cu-65. The neutron exposures converted them into Cu- 64 (12.7 h half-life) and Cu-66 (5 min half-life) respectively. The contribution of the activated copper to the total activity would have been relatively small. "

tincup

So when people purchased them... they were irradiated on the spot and really were radioactive briefly at that time!

https://orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/medals/irradiated-dimes.html

tincup

And the those that have the plastic World's Fair holders... were made on the spot with a portable irradiator at the Fair!

But really... pretty much all radioactivity decayed off rapidly. One is likely exposed to much more radiation from the soil in your yard, bricks in your house, porcelain glazes, your smoke detectors, etc.... ....it's everywhere.

DCW

@Klif50 said:
Maybe they will like that story.

I know I did! Thanks for posting that. How about a picture of the token?

Cameonut

Glad to see that there is still some interest in this series. I hope to edit my 2018 thread with some new pieces that I have picked up the last few years. Nothing major (mostly a second variety of the blue plastic Worlds Fair).
I've been watching Ebay to try to understand the relative rarity of each of the inscriptions, I now think I might be able to piece together a timeline on when the different pieces were made. This is made easier by looking at things like postcards (many out there) and postage stamp first day covers that establish the dates of the two museums. In general, the rarest pieces are the ORNL CCCC, ORNL UCNC, Mid South Fairs, and Oak Ridge inscriptions.

My set is now housed for the most part in two Whitman albums with custom lettering to make them more presentable. A separate binder for the all the other souvenir pieces. I hope to add photos of this material this winter when I have more time.

Cameonut

@PTVETTER said:
Do you remember these?
What years?

Going off the top of my head, I'll offer the following dates.
First, the American Museum of Atomic Energy opened in 1949. I suspect the dime irradiator was in operation at that time. It may have started sooner. All the original lettering was black.

Second, the exact date when the lettering switched to blue is tougher to pin down. Based on looking at my collection, there are no pieces with black lettering after 1956 - only blue lettering after that. This suggests that letting color changed from black to blue sometime in 1956.

I have read that the machine was shut down sometime in 1967 perhaps because silver dimes were rapidly disappearing from circulation. This does not explain how the Nuclear Week pieces were made in May of 1968. Perhaps the machine was brought out of retirement for that event. (My Nuclear Week piece is a clearly circulated 1961 dime).

sellitstore

@tincup said:
And the those that have the plastic World's Fair holders... were made on the spot with a portable irradiator at the Fair!

But really... pretty much all radioactivity decayed off rapidly. One is likely exposed to much more radiation from the soil in your yard, bricks in your house, porcelain glazes, your smoke detectors, etc.... ....it's everywhere.

Yup, in the blue plastic holders. My older brother got one at the Fair.