I have two

[GL]

Of these:

I found them a few years ago in an abandoned house on a shelf. They make me think of this:

So I keep them outside just in case they are real. I figured they were fakes because...well...look at it.
I was reading the brass gold ingot thread and was reminded of these weird bars I have.

Well? What do you all think?

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[Bigcypresshunter]

This was the website that led me to search for and reopen this old thread. Please read it. http://historiesofthingstocome.blogspot.com/2011/04/nuclear-culture-1-healthy-radiation.html

Listen to Breezie. Its not lead or it would be marked as such. Please find a way to dispose of it properly. There is no telling what damage I caused myself playing with that Uranium rock. Not to mention playing with Mercury. Radium is worse. Please dont keep it in your home any longer if you still have it.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[uglymailman]

Take a look at Wikipedia. That is spooky stuff. I have no idea if it has value but could be worth a lot. Still don't know how you haven't been hauled away. Might be just the thing some crazy is lookin for to make a dirty bomb. Can you put it back?

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

GL ~

Interesting conversation piece. But maybe you should get one of these for it ...

 

[Ism]

What do you think about that being radium encased in lead?

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

What do you think about that being radium encased in lead?

It looks as if smeone drilled holes in it thus releasing any possible radiation.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I figured they were fakes because...well...look at it.
I was reading the brass gold ingot thread and was reminded of these weird bars I have.

Well? What do you all think?

Here is a pic of the fake gold bar but this is much different. All isotopes of radium are highly radioactive. It wasnt long ago shortly after WWII that they thought radium was actually beneficial. These are probably from that time period.

The Wikipedia says it glows in the dark so maybe this could be a test but like someone said, it may be encased in lead. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Forget the glow in the dark test. The radium itself doesn't emit green light, but the decay of the radium provides the energy to light the phosphor used in self-luminous paints.


http://chemistry.about.com/od/glowingprojects/tp/List-Of-Things-That-Glow-In-The-Dark.htm

View attachment 600776

Radium Dials http://www.roger-russell.com/jeffers/radiumdials.htm

 

[Breezie]

When I was a kid, I had Uranium Ore in my rock collection. Got it from the museum. It was yellow. I finally tossed it in the trash many years later when a friend strongly suggested I get rid of it..

BCH, when I was a kid, I bought a mineral collection while our family was on vacation in the Appalachian Mountains. One of the rocks was Uranium. I kept that collection for years, and played with all of the rocks. When I was about 10 yrs. old, one of my neighborhood friends had a small bottle of Mercury she got from a broken thermometer; we use to play with that and roll it around in the palm of our hands. I also had one of those phosphor 'glow in the dark' crosses that stood on my bedside table. It's a wonder we all made it to be grown! But now that we are all older and wiser, we know better, which is why GL needs to get rid of it ASAP. Yes, there is a 50% chance it is not Radium, but there's also a 50% chance it is. In other words, GL refer to my snake story. Breezie

GL, I didn't realize you are from NC. Your best bet is to call Univ. of North Carolina in Chapel Hill or NC State in Raleigh. Of course, Duke is in Durham, so any of those would be great choices.

PS: That's a great website you posted BCH.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Very good website. I got it from CC Hunter.

Heres another thread I dug out of the archives. Did we get this one right? http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,33603.0.html

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I sent a PM to GL for an update.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

There was something called Radium Solder but I cant find any links or information on it. Hewitt made solder and babbit metals so my guess this is a brick of solder. It may have value but it also may be radioactive.. Anything I read anywhere about Radium is very bad.

 

[GL]

That stuff is long gone. The bars were very heavy and not warm or glowing LOL. It just said Radium "A" on it and since the house was abandoned I figured neato and took em home. They were in my house for a long time...doorstops and bookends and just sorta existing til I got to thinking about it after reading an article on Curie and how she died. Lots of those scientists died from studying Radium. Radium is especially nasty because it attacks bones and teeth and causes serious cases of messed up death.

I do NOT have superpowers from handling them.
Yet.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Big Cy ~

I did a quick follow up search on your "Solder" lead and found the following. The copy/pasted text below is the only information that was associated with the picture. And even it states that some of the information was obtained from Google.

What's a "Babbitt?"

SBB

The bar pictured below does not have "Radium A" embossed on it.

copy/pasted description ... (But it is actually slightly different on the bar itself ~ check it out)

INGOT SILVER SOLDER? BABBITT? BAR IS TARNISHED. MADE IN THE 1940s and 1950s. SAYS; BENSON, HEWITT METALS, DETROIT. WEIGHT IS 4LBS- 6OZ. COMPANY DID MAKE SOLDERS AND BABBITT, ACCORDING TO GOOGLE.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Big Cy ~

I did a quick follow up search on your "Solder" lead and found the following. The copy/pasted text below is the only information that was associated with the picture. And even it states that some of the information was obtained from Google.

What's a "Babbitt?"

SBB

The bar pictured below does not have "Radium A" embossed on it.

copy/pasted description ... (But it is actually slightly different on the bar itself ~ check it out)

INGOT SILVER SOLDER? BABBITT? BAR IS TARNISHED. MADE IN THE 1940s and 1950s. SAYS; BENSON, HEWITT METALS, DETROIT. WEIGHT IS 4LBS- 6OZ. COMPANY DID MAKE SOLDERS AND BABBITT, ACCORDING TO GOOGLE.

As far as I know babbitt metal is an alloy used in older bearings. I think the bar is melted into large integral railroad bearings. http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...ilroad+babbitt+metal&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us I dont know what benson is.

I would imagine Radium A bar is also melted for some bearing, filler or solder use.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I do NOT have superpowers from handling them.
Yet.

Your avatar is glowing.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

That stuff is long gone. The bars were very heavy and not warm or glowing LOL. It just said Radium "A" on it and since the house was abandoned I figured neato and took em home. They were in my house for a long time...doorstops and bookends and just sorta existing til I got to thinking about it after reading an article on Curie and how she died. Lots of those scientists died from studying Radium. Radium is especially nasty because it attacks bones and teeth and causes serious cases of messed up death.

Im glad you got rid of it. SBB has shown that this is the typical size bar made by Hewitt and it was most likely genuine Radium A solder. Im sorry we couldnt get this information to you earlier. I somehow missed this old thread.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Here's another lead I stumbled onto. I haven't even Googled it yet myself, and don't mind if someone else does, as I really don't have the time right now. But then again, I might just take a quick peek before I leave for the day.

SBB

If you google Peter Cooper Hewitt, Ironwood, or Hewitt Smithsonian, there is a wealth of interesting information about the Hewitt family!

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

All types of lead based solder alloys come in this standard bar ingot shape. http://www.marsmetal.com/alloy-lead This was apparently a Radium based solder alloy. Its already been disposed of long ago so that is the most important thing.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

I too missed the fact this was a 2008 thread.

Anyhoo ... Just for the record, it definitely appears that the "Hewitt Company" was connected with the railroad industry in some manner and, as Big Cy indicated, apparently made train related parts ... plus a variety other "stuff."

The first ad is from a 1910 magazine called "The Frisco-Man." Which was published by the "Frisco Rail Line" that operated in the areas shown in the second picture. And if the Hewitt Company did in fact use Radium-A in the making of train berrings, I'm still not sure why. But that could very well be where the item in question originated from, and explain what it's primary purpose was intended for.

SBB

1st ad dated 1910
2nd ad dated 1949

 

[tomjiggy]

Just as an aforethought to this thread....next time you come across something like this it should be reported to Law Enforcement as soon as possible. Is it possible that this old stuff could be used in the manufacturing of "dirty bombs"? I don't know, but I'd think that they would be interested in proper disposal of this type of material. Maybe I've been in the military too long and can't see any good coming of an old bar of Radium, but for me it's better to be on the cautious side of things.