The smell of coins. I can't resist blogging this. It's science.
The signature metallic smell of a handful of coins isn't the scent of pure metal. According to Virginia Tech organic chemist Dietmar Glindemann, most people wouldn't even recognize the acrid smell of a vat of copper. But in a recent experiment, Glindemann showed that when we handle metal objects like coins (most U.S. coins are about 75 percent copper), our sweat begins corroding them immediately, creating a film of unstable ions that behave like partially oxidized rust. Fatty acids from oils on the skin are decomposed by these loose ions and form the compounds that give coined money its distinctive smell--an aroma that bears an odd resemblance to blood's. (Discover)
It gets even more interesting. It turns out a coin's musty smell is correlated with high concentrations of a carbonyl, 1-octen-3-one. There's more. The same compound appeared when organic chemists Dietmar Glindemann and Andrea Dietrich of Virginia Tech rubbed blood on their skin. Coins smell like blood.
I love the smell of coins in the morning.
So who coined the phrase blood money?
That connects with "the coppery smell of blood".
Cool.
Thanks.
(I find the smell of blood, and of coins, mildly unpleasant, though not pukey.)
yug -good thing breakfast is a ways away yet.
and ... what are they going to do with this research now?
"what are they going to do with this research now?"
Mint a special run of coins which look like copper but don't smell like blood, to be kept in reserve for National Security contingencies.
What, ;-) they gonna make 'em smell like "new" cars?
Supposedly, the Swiss have a saying about money (gold coins) -
"the blood washes off."