If smoking wasn't bad enough, this ashtray is radioactive
A beautiful piece of vaseline glass by Moser
Fact sheet…
Discovered: At an antique shop in Lewes, UK
Age: Circa 1920s
Radioactivity: 0.32 uSv/hr (roughly 3x background radiation)
Maker: Moser
History of the maker: The Moser glassworks was founded in 1857 by Ludwig Moser in Karlovy Vary, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). They gained a reputation across Europe for luxury glass, with Moser items being purchased for palaces around the world, but equally found in many ordinary homes. Their focus on lead-free crystal was praised for its purity and hardness.
If you’re hunting for uranium glass, then the best antique shops in my experience look like a hoarder’s house – messy, disorganised, and with little curation. Even better are the ‘antique centres’, shops that host spaces to multiple antique dealers who regularly update their showcased items. So on the way back from a family holiday on England’s South Coast, I just had to stop in the beautiful historic market town of Lewes.
My quest for radioactive antiques in Lewes was very successful. Discoveries included a beautiful but expensive uranium glass vase (£235!) and an old compass (on a special offer of just £28) that had radium on the points. I must have identified a dozen objects, some labelled, but the piece I walked away with was my ‘holy grail’ find.
In one antique shop window, on the far-bottom corner close to the road and hidden behind a lamp post, was a vintage ashtray. Its light pale colour looked like many Vaseline glass (very pure uranium glass) objects that I own – shining my UV torch immediately revealed its radioactive glow. It’s a bucket list find, a radioactive ashtray!
It’s a unique find - proudly engraved with the maker’s mark, Art Deco gold relief on the top, and good radioactivity (for uranium glass) indicating a healthy amount of uranium oxide used for its colour. My Radiacode 102 measured 0.32 uSv/hr, which is roughly three times background radiation.
Unbelievably, this antique shop revealed a second ashtray by the same maker that was black and didn’t glow under UV but was still radioactive. Apparently, Moser did create a near black glass variant of uranium glass that is sometimes referred to as black amethyst. Its condition wasn’t as good, and at £45 per ashtray, I decided to go for the Vaseline glass variant. However, the black version is still out there waiting to be found…
As Moser didn’t keep records of production numbers, it’s difficult to tell how rare this item is. However, I’m grateful to have found it.
Came here from reddit! Cool concept, excited to hear more
Interesting Fact!!