# Scratch off lottery tickets

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-off-lottery-tickets/171146>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 25, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-off-lottery-tickets/171146 "2003-04-25T17:04:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-off-lottery-tickets/171146/1 "2003-04-25T17:04:53Z")

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I’ve been sitting here, working on my fortune, which at the moment consists of a small pile of metallic looking dust. What is the material that you “scratch” off of these tickets? Is it harmful to me in some way? Is it even metallic? The only other quality that I can observe is that it sticks to your fingers like mad, and won’t even wash off very well.

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**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-off-lottery-tickets/171146/2 "2003-04-25T17:07:02Z")

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It’s just dyed latex.

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**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-off-lottery-tickets/171146/3 "2003-04-25T17:12:40Z")

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Find some fake lottery scratch off tickets on the internet (with fake winners of 10k…or a million) and give them to friends when it’s their birthday.