Over the wires today was a report about people in Middle Eastern countries selling their old singer sewing machines for upwards of $50,000.00 dollars. Now as much as I’d love it for some rich Sheik to give me 50G’s for Ms. Sophie’s 201 I feel compelled to tell you all this is just another stunning display of peoples ignorance.
First of all there is no such thing as ‘Red’ Mercury. Mercury is a hazardous liquid silver colored metal that is a class 8 corrosive and pretty much anything that comes in contact with mercury is considered ‘contaminated’ and deemed hazardous by the US EPA. The ‘Red’ is a reference to a code name for possibly some other type of substance that is supposed to be highly valuable. Who knows what the heck they are looking for but I can assure you mercury is not nor never has been red.
Mercury does come from an ore called Cinnabar when it is mined from the earth but all mercury in circulation today in the US is from mercury that already exists and is recycled. This is first hand knowledge and I’m going to leave it at that else the ‘Mercury Police’ may come knocking. As you can see the ore is red and in this form is used as a pigment in red paint.
In college I remember having a tube of oil paint once called vermilion red and no doubt this was the stuff in it.
I don’t see anything RED on the 201. Of note though and something I thought about is maybe these crazies are after the gold paint on the machine.
Who knows. They might have a belief that ‘red’ mercury has amalgamated into the gold paint, sort of like becoming a modern day Islamic version of the Davinci Code. Or better yet is somehow linked to the Red Violin and the blood from the master violin maker Stradivarius resides among the gears. Yes. My imagination does run wild.
Saudi police say they are investigating a hoax that has seen people rushing to buy old-fashioned sewing machines for up to $50,000 (£33,500).
The Singer sewing machines are said to contain traces of red mercury, a substance that may not exist.
But it is widely thought that it can be used to find treasure, ward off evil spirits or even make nuclear bombs.
It is believed that tiny amounts can sell for millions of dollars, the Saudi Gazette reported.
The paper said that trade in the sewing machines was brisk across the country.
Rumours about the sewing machines have been spreading for days by word of mouth and over the internet, it said.
These included rumours that foreign experts and companies had been buying up Singers.
In Dhulum, it was reported that people had broken into two tailors’ shops to steal the machines.
In the city of Madina, people were holding mobile phones up to the machines, due to the belief that they could be used to detect the presence of red mercury.
An interior ministry spokesman said authorities were trying to discover who had spread the rumours.
“We have to find out who started this hoax,” he told Reuters news agency.
“People hope to make profit,” he added. “This is no different to cases of citizens who put their money in untrustworthy schemes.”
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For my readers that also have 201’s and old sewing machines please just be aware of anyone that might be asking to give you an outrageous amount of money for your machine. You certainly wouldn’t want to fall victim to a scam. Your machine at most is only worth about $50 at auction without a cabinet.
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