The E-Sylum:  Volume 9, Number 42, October 15, 2006, Article 25

CENT PROVES MAN's SEWER GAS CASE

Dick Johnson writes: "I'll bet you have heard of some weird uses
for cents, but this is a first to me. A recent article describes
how a corroded copper-zinc cent was used to win a lawsuit.

The plaintiff was a electrical utility worker who was sent into a
salt water canal 40 feet below ground level. While cleaning up the
muck a pocket of hydrogen sulfide gas (rotten egg smell) was released,
a causing the crew to lose consciousness. The plaintiff tried to
escape but only made it up half way before he, too, lost consciousness
and fell twenty feet. He sued. But he had to prove it was caused by
the release of the hydrogen sulfide.

The article's author was a chemical consultant to the plaintiff's
lawyer. All he had were three coins that were in the worker's pocket.
He did an analysis of the cent -- badly corroded and black color.
His conclusion, after an electron probe and literature search, were
that this corrosion could only come from sulfur contained in that
sewer gas.  The penny won the case."

To read the Case of the Sulfurous Sewer, just published, click on:
Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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