What would you do if NGC...

[EZ_E]

The USPS irradiates government mail and works to ensure that government workers receiving irradiated mail are not exposed to harmful levels of byproducts.

[jackson64]

why these posts of photoshopped coins or changing the color with different lighting?...is the point that some of you don't believe that the man with the coin IN HAND can't tell whether the color has changed?...or are you just calling him a liar?

[EZ_E]

why these posts of photoshopped coins or changing the color with different lighting?...is the point that some of you don't believe that the man with the coin IN HAND can't tell whether the color has changed?...or are you just calling him a liar?

 

The exact same thought crossed my mind more than once.

[BULLY]

I wasn't following the whole thread, BUT, I did check the link, and following another link or two, and found that NOT ALL mail is irradiated. In fact, the last update about it was posted in mid-November 2007, and it says:

 

http://www.epa.gov/radiation/sources/mail_irrad.html

 

"Is my mail is being irradiated?

Currently only mail to the White House, Congressional offices, and federal government offices in the 202-205 Zip Code exchanges is being irradiated. Irradiation is taking place at facilities in Ohio and New Jersey."

 

I don't think our NGC packages fall into that category, unless you are having your coins shipped to work, and you worked in a federal office listed above.

 

They do, however, mention some of the possible changes which happen to mail that is irradiated, and if gemstones can be affected, plastics as well, I don't find it hard to imagine that coins could be. But again, that would assume that our packages were being irradiated in the first place.

 

"Are there changes to the mail after it has been irradiated?

Yes. Irradiating mail at such high intensity creates new compounds, which can result in a different look, feel, and even smell. The potential health effects of these changes is unknown. Because of the intensity of the beam, mail often looks yellowed, and can become brittle. Book bindings may become brittle, and plastic may be discolored. Seeds, plants or other biological material will be sterile, and photographic film will be useless. Items such as gem stones may be altered, and computer disks, CDs, and some electronic equipment (like personal digital assistants) may be damaged."

 

 

EPA web site

 

There may be some truth to linking the post office to this copper caper.

 

In the article on the EPA website:

 

chemicals released from plastics in the mail,

 

The irradiation process sterilizes mail by passing it through a high-energy beam--an electron beam or x-ray. This beam is ionizing radiation that delivers in a dose approximately 2 million times more potent than a chest x-ray. The beam penetrates deep into the mail to destroy germs and viruses and is capable of penetrating letter trays and packages.

 

[EZ_E]

I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll get a big copper coin and strip it clean and then I'll subject it to a high dose of radiation from both a cat scan machine and from the x-ray tube.

 

I don't go back to work 'til Monday but I'll let you all know the results. (thumbs u

[WoodenJefferson]

E_Z....I'm thinking that the plastic of the slab somehow released gasses or ions that created an environment inside the holder that may have changed the surface of the coin. That is of course if the slab was subjected to irradiation somewhere along the line in the first place...on a bare coin, I wouldn't think anything would happen, but a pure copper coin nestled inside a plastic chamber, things might be going on inside there durring irradiation that we don't quite understand yet.

 

If the EPA says the process can harm eyeglasses and contacts...well?

[bochiman]

"Postal irradiation"

 

THAT's a good one