[Ole Okie]

Eventually thermometers will burst all over the world and mankind will become extinct if we don't act now

Maybe, but I sure had fun making dimes shiny with broken thermometer mercury when I was a kid.

[hellbender]

I have a silver dollar somewhere which I foolishly tried to clean with Aqua Regia (a mixture of nitric & hydrochloric acids; capable of dissolving even gold). It acquired an ugly coating which is impossible to remove. That coin would have been worth a bundle today.