Do not under any circumstances melt them without proper equipment.Originally Posted by Starmex
Those look like silver cadmium oxide contacts. The larger contacts are alloyed with cadmium so prevent scoring if they arc electricity. If you see burn marks on them, it might not be alloyed with cadmium, but you cannot assume anything. When Cadmium is heated above a certain point, it gives off gases. When you breath it in, if in small enough amounts, it might only increase your risk of cancer by 25%, in large amounts it can kill you. Not only that but it has a half life of 25 years, and even if you drink a ton of water, and pee constantly, you are only going to expel about .01% of the total amount you accumulate in your body.
Cadmium is commonly found in all kinds of silver alloys. It's another reason why you should be melting silver anything, unless you know the material does not have cadmium. It's also part of the reason why certain types of silver jewelry from certain countries cause people to break out in green, because the silver is alloyed with nickel, cadmium or both.
Are the silver contacts yours, and are you looking to sell them?
Do you know what they came off of? What type of connecters they are? The silver percentage can vary. However, if you have a silver testing solution, you can generally tell the purity by the color the solution turns to on the silver when first you apply it, and then later when it changes it's color.
Scott
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