# Lohid alloy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 25, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541 "2011-02-25T04:48:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/1 "2011-02-25T04:48:11Z")
Through means unknown to me (she said she searched “Buddhist jewelry” or something), my girlfriend has come across some “alchemical metal” called Lohid alloy. Google insists this metal only exists on the handful of sites selling what appears to be the exact same ring. One site says it was made by Thai alchemical masters “until after the 19th century” and that the means of making it has been lost (verdict is out on why it only costs you 50 bucks then, but whatever). It apparently shines rapidly as you wear it, suggesting some sort of mood-ring-ness to me in its composition. We’ve also determined it likely contains some degree of mercury since the other alloys mentioned on one of the pages have mercury, and the “effects” of wearing it are oddly similar to mercury poisoning. Even though it’s really obscure, I thought I’d take a stab in the dark and see if anyone knows anything concrete. If you need to take a look, searching Google for Lohid alloy should give you only the few pages with the ring on it. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/2 "2011-02-25T14:32:37Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > We’ve also determined it likely contains some degree of mercury since the other alloys mentioned on one of the pages have mercury, and the “effects” of wearing it are oddly similar to mercury poisoning. That’s enough information to indicate the I want none of the Hg containing products. \*\*If you want to take a chance on something play Russian Roulette with 5 of 6 cylinders loaded with live ammunition! \*\* ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/3 "2011-02-25T15:22:22Z")
Mercury and its alloys are not that bad. Dentists have used silver and gold alloys of mercury, amalgams, to fill teeth for years. When reacted with other materials, mercury becomes available to the body and very nasty. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/4 "2011-02-25T16:11:17Z")
An amalgam isn’t an alloy. The mercury is physically “caged” by the silver, and the two are mixed below the melting point (or even the eutectic point): [http://www.its.org/node/5666](http://www.its.org/node/5666) ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/5 "2011-02-25T17:03:38Z")
I normally hate to be too critical, even 'tho the world ‘alchemical’ outside of history make me itchy, but … > [@Jragon](#): > > . It apparently shines rapidly as you wear it,. OK, what does this even mean. This is complete grammar disconnect. Something ‘shines intensely’, means it glows, but ‘shines rapidly’ means what? It’s mood metal? OK, I’ll play along but what do you think the page means when it says what it says? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/6 "2011-02-25T18:39:38Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > …‘shines rapidly’ means what? Colourless green ideas sleep furiously. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/7 "2011-02-25T19:26:50Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > Something ‘shines intensely’, means it glows, but ‘shines rapidly’ means what? Means that somebody with poor English skills was trying to say “rapidly becomes shiny”. [This author was more successful:](http://www.magiedubouddha.com/p_thai-mekkapat-intl.php) > [@](#): > > Once empowered, lohid becomes as shiny as gold and, to my knowledge, is the only metal in this world that tarnishes if one does not wear it but rapidly takes on a shine when in contact with the human body. By the way, the word _lohid_ is probably derived from Sanskrit _lohita_ (Hindi _lohit_), meaning “coppery” or “reddish”, often used for copper itself. So I’m betting this mystical metal is some kind of copper alloy. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/8 "2011-02-26T01:35:22Z")
Any relation to orichalcum? ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/9 "2011-02-26T01:45:14Z")
I’ll stick with my custom made monel and inconel bling, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/10 "2011-02-26T07:09:32Z")
> [@](#): > > [La Magie du Bouddha - Erreur 404.](http://www.magiedubouddha.com/p_thai-mekkapat-intl.php:) > Wearing a lohid piece first of all invigorates the body of the wearer, so don’t be surprised if you feel a faint fatigue, or an increase in appetite, if you wear such a talisman. So to feel fatigued is to be invigorated, is it? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/11 "2011-02-26T07:20:14Z")
Fatigued, invigorated, yet… hungry. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/12 "2011-02-26T10:17:08Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > Fatigued, invigorated, yet… hungry. My skeleton must be made of the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/13 "2011-02-26T11:00:08Z")
It amuses me that this thread is the top Google result for this junk now. Maybe that portends a spam run, maybe that portends some shills, maybe that portends some well-meaning yahoos who will try to come in and tell us it isn’t a scam, honest! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/14 "2011-02-26T16:29:51Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Through means unknown to me (she said she searched “Buddhist jewelry” or something), my girlfriend has come across some “alchemical metal” called Lohid alloy. Google insists this metal only exists on the handful of sites selling what appears to be the exact same ring. One site says it was made by Thai alchemical masters “until after the 19th century” and that the means of making it has been lost (verdict is out on why it only costs you 50 bucks then, but whatever). It apparently shines rapidly as you wear it, suggesting some sort of mood-ring-ness to me in its composition. We’ve also determined it likely contains some degree of mercury since the other alloys mentioned on one of the pages have mercury, and the “effects” of wearing it are oddly similar to mercury poisoning. > > Even though it’s really obscure, I thought I’d take a stab in the dark and see if anyone knows anything concrete. If you need to take a look, searching Google for Lohid alloy should give you only the few pages with the ring on it. “Thai alchemical masters”? 😕 Never heard of any of this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/15 "2011-02-26T16:38:59Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > “Thai alchemical masters”? 😕 Never heard of any of this stuff. Plus they would have been “Siamese alchemical masters” until 1939. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/16 "2011-02-26T17:08:51Z")
I do not know about the Thai (or Siamease), but there was a long tradition of _Chinese_ alchemy (or, at least, a tradition that Westerners have long referred to as a form of alchemy). It differed from Western and Islamic alchemy in that it was more concerned with finding an elixir of eternal life than with making gold, but it was similar in that it involved mucking around with various substances and chemical techniques (mostly derived from metalurgical techniques) without anyone really knowing what they were doing, and with a lot of mysticism, secrecy and intentional obfuscation also involved. Chinese alchemists also had a great fondness for mercury (as did Western ones). The emperor [Qin Shi Huang](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang), the one who first unified China, is said to have been very anxious to find this elixir, and to have eventually died from taking mercury containing medicine in the belief that it would keep him alive. Thus it is not unreasonable to think that Chinese alchemists (or some Siamese branch of the tradition) might have made rings out of some sort of mercury alloy and claimed that they would have healthful effects. Of course, none of that provides any reason to think that the rings actually _would_ have healthful effects. Many traditional medicines do not work, and not a few are actively harmful. Nevertheless, it does not seem implausible to me that there might really be some real oriental tradition about such an alloy. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/17 "2011-02-26T20:56:04Z")
Interesting. I thought pretty much all alchemists were interested in finding the elixir of life and that the lead to gold was a secondary goal in order to make funding easier. No need for a noble patron to report to if you can just turn lead into gold for all your expense needs! ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/18 "2011-02-28T13:49:47Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > Mercury and its alloys are not that bad. Dentists have used silver and gold alloys of mercury, amalgams, to fill teeth for years. When reacted with other materials, mercury becomes available to the body and very nasty. **Dentists have NOT used mercury amalgam for fillings for a number of years and started recommending the removal and replacment with light cured subistutes.** ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohid-alloy/572541/19 "2011-02-28T14:11:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Dentists have NOT used mercury amalgam for fillings for a number of years and started recommending the removal and replacment with light cured subistutes. Not true. My dentist still uses it. My wife – a dental technician – attends a dental conference every year. The use of silver amalgam is still defended, and it’s claimed that the removal of amalgam releases unwanted mercury, so that it’s safer to leave it in place. > [@](#): > > Amalgam is an “excellent and versatile restorative material”[17] and is used in dentistry for a number of reasons. It is inexpensive and relatively easy to use and manipulate during placement; it remains soft for a short time so it can be packed to fill any irregular volume, and then forms a hard compound. Amalgam possesses greater longevity when compared to other direct restorative materials, such as composite.[18] However, this difference has decreased with continual development of composite resins.[19] > > Amalgam is typically compared to resin-based composites because many applications are similar and many physical properties and costs are comparable. > > … > > The American Dental Association Council on Scientific Affairs has concluded that both amalgam and composite materials are considered safe and effective for tooth restoration,[38] and a study has stated that amalgam fillings pose no personal health risk, and that replacement by non-amalgam fillings is not indicated.[39] Recent randomized clinical trials have found no evidence of neurological harm or deleterious renal effects associated with use of amalgam in children after examining a period of 5–7 years following treatment.[40] [41] > **[Amalgam (dentistry)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalgam_%28dentistry%29)** > > In dentistry, amalgam is an alloy of mercury used to fill teeth cavities. It is made by mixing a combination of liquid mercury and particles of solid metals such as silver, copper or tin. The amalgam is mixed by the dentist just before use. It remains soft for a short while after mixing, which facilitates it being snugly packed into the cavity and shaped before it sets hard. > Dental amalgams were first documented in a Tang dynasty medical text written by Su Gong (苏恭) in 659, and appeared in Ger...