

When a schizophrenic woman arrived at the

University of Tennessee Health Science Center, she was nauseous, terribly weak, and confused. Several doctors tended to her and performed lab tests. Their patient was severely anemic and suffering from kidney failure. One of her family members said that she had swallowed some coins.

The physicians examined an X-ray image of the frail woman's abdomen and found a clump of pennies in her intestine. To help it come out, they gave her some laxatives.

Later, it became clear that the bunch of coins was still stuck, so the doctors used an endoscope to peer into her digestive tract.

The corroded cluster of coins was stuck in her stomach – not her colon. It was heavy enough to make the digestive organ sag deep into her abdomen, which made it look like the money was in her intestine.

They had to operate.

When the surgery was over, the medical team had found five hundred and eighty-five pennies, seventeen nickels, twelve dimes, eight quarters, one Deutsche mark, three screws, and a rock.

In a report to the Journal of Emergency Medicine, which is already available online, Saurabh Dhawan, Katherine Ryder, and Elizabeth Pritchard explained that the unfortunate woman had suffered from zinc poisoning. Pennies are coated in copper, but their insides are made from the toxic heavy metal.

Stomach acid had dissolved the shiny surfaces and exposed their cores. Once the metal was free to react with the gastric juice, it became zinc chloride, which passed through the lining of her intestine and played havoc with her liver, kidneys, pancreas, red blood cells, and bone marrow.