Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes, this is rather macabre. But I do remember the undertaker asking if my mother had any metal in her, before she was cremated. Very gladly, she did not, so I do not have to have those mental pictures in front of me.
Makes me wonder about the titanium screw I have in my jaw! Not as easy to extract, but more valuable, ounce-for-ounce.
In fact, if you're being cremated, don't they have to remove all this stuff first? What about ordinary amalgam fillings?
(Oh, and I just of titanium hips! Even more gruesome to think about!)
Don't they have to remove all of that stuff?
I don't know. I'm pretty sue that it's (common?) practice to remove visible metals before cremation. I'll ask my friend Brian who does that for a living.
When my father died, my stepmother had all the gold removed from his teeth and made a necklace out of it. When she proudly showed it to me, at first I thought the little round "blossoms" were supposed to be abstract flower petals. Then I realized that I was seeing the surface of his teeth. I was completely grossed out and was not offended when my stepmother told me she was going to give the jewelry to her daughter.
This is a great thread because I've thought about this sort of thing for years. Imagine what my spinal fusion titanium is worth! Hmmmm. . . . . .
Not much. The buy price on titanium scrap is currently from 4.25-6.00 per pound depending upon form. There are minimum amounts, not to mention shipping charges. The fact that a fabricated item is expensive has nothing to do with the scrap price because most of the cost is in the fabrication. Precious metals are exceptions but there are few others.
But don't forget the natural bounty of the human body. Properly prepared skeletons are worth collecting. More than fifty years ago the price of a skull ranged from $15 to $50 depending upon dentition. I was going to buy one as a tyke but my parents were not, shall we say, terribly keen on the idea. Today they cost far more and are more difficult to find in nice condition. Drinking goblets fashioned from skulls would impress even the most jaded at a formal dinner party. The skulls in original condition make splendid gifts for the boy or girl aspiring to Medicine or Necromancy.
When the Museum of the Macabre in Hawaii closed and liquidated its collection c. 1980 I knew an enthusiast who was planning to travel to the auction to purchase both shrunken heads and mummies. He was sore disappointed when the auction was cancelled; the whole collection had been sold by private treaty.
Just FWIW. I am a dental basket case - and have had much metal in my mouth over the years. Metals - including precious metals - that are used in the human body aren't like gold coins that ordinary dealers will buy/sell. There are people in specialize in the stuff - especially dental stuff - especially gold (stuff you take out of peoples' bodies - unlike coins - isn't very sanitary). The dentists we use have them (they generally deal wholesale with people like dentists - not retail to individuals). I keep our dental gold scrap metal - and might sell it when I think gold has reached a top (would give it to my dentist to sell to his scrap metal guy - and give him a %). Robyn
My Uncle just died yesterday.. and it was always a thing for my uncle that his gold filling be taken out and given to the family.. It is not for monatary value, but for "MEMORIES" value.... I don't care what the funeral homes say. or if you work at one.. I think the family wishes should be granted, especially since it was the wishes of my uncle to have his wife have it just to have part of what was part of him for years... it's just a little bit of gold that his wife would like to have NOT TO SELL.. it's not the money... it's the memories, and what my uncle always joked and talked about.. this is a sentimental situation for my uncle's wife.. NOT A MONEY thing.... and believe me...if my uncle's wife could keep his body in her house for the rest of her life without being against the law, she would.. sticky or not... please.. stop... and btw, my uncle will be cremated, and his wife WILL be paying for it...we just want her to have what my uncle wishes were... why can you be so cold at such a difficult time in my aunt's life... do we really have to fight over a small sentimental piece of gold.. I could give her 18 karat gold, but that would not be the same as my uncle's wishes... please help me to find out how to give her my uncle's wishes before it's too late.. my email is [email]Ldab1234@yahoo.com[/email].. if you can tell me what I Can do with a funeral home in wisconsin...
When you are cremated there are fairly large bone fragments that are left and not all the metal is incinerated so my understanding of what happens is that they run a magnet or sift the 'ashes' for metal because once they have the metal out they run everything through a big sort of blender to get that fine quality of ash everyone is used to seeing when ashes are strewn into the wind or whatever. I'm not sure but I think pacemaker batteries can explode and may cause damage to the crematorium.
It's conversations like this that keep me from coming to the Retirement forum. Anyone doing anything exciting for New Year's Eve?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
