Why Coins Smell
By Jeffrey Strain, December 26th, 2006 | 5 Comments »
Have you ever wondered why coins have a musty, metallic odor after they have been in your hands awhile? You may have assumed that it was the coins being dirty, but in reality it isn’t the coins at all – it’s you. That’s right. That smell is your own body odor. According to a recent study, that metallic odor comes from a breakdown of oils in your skin after your touch coins and not from the coins themselves.
In the experiment for the study, researchers took gas samples from the subjects’ skins when people reported smelling the metallic odor after touching iron. The smell was then traced to 1-octen-2-one which is an organic molecule formed when certain oils in skin decompose. The researchers believe that when a person touches an object made of iron, the perspiration from their skin causes the iron atoms to gain two electrons. These iron atoms then react with oil in skin forming 1-octen-2-one.
Hat tip: LiveScience.com
Wow! That’s so weird! I love cool info like that.
That is disgusting and I work in a Cash Office…. ewww.. I don’t want to think about that.
Please tell your readers that if any of them want to avoid this embarrassing phenomenon, they may simply send the offending currency directly to me, care of The Sarcasticynic.
wierd, I always thought it was the cocaine.
Coins are so annoying anyway. I hate carrying them because they’re noisy in my pocket. Can’t we just get rid of pennies at least?