Cooking with Red Mercury

Folks still want to prove to me the Red Mercury exists and while I knew about the rumors linking Singer sewing machines and landmines to the hoax substance, John from Uganda wrote to me to let me know about another possible source.  John says:

Red Mercury exists 100%; I know someone with a stove of German made in 1914 by King Keizer it does wonders like changing water into red, changing blue pen to red, etc.

Well.  My curiosity was piqued.  What the hell is a King Keizer (Kaiser?) stove and why would anyone believe it contains Red Mercury?  And why doesn’t my kitchen stove have such wonderful magic powers?

First, this is bullshit and yet another means of liberating the gullible from their money.  In Kenya, two conmen were arrested trying to sell a German stove that they said was made of gold for 3 million Kenyan shillings (about US $30,000) (Standard Media).  But that’s somewhat believable: I mean a solid gold stove probably would be worth a few bucks on Antiques Roadshow, but no one, and I mean no one, makes a stove out of a soft metal like gold. No, better to claim that the Germans had imbued their cookware with mystical powers, such as those John mentions.  Of course, John’s stove only changed the color of things. According to the sales folks at this site, German Duss Stoves are also magnetic, disrupt mobile phone signals, and – best of all – “Turns warm then hot when shaken”.  Because, old German stoves are so easy to pick up and shake, right?

German Stove

Does not contain Red Mercury

Now then, not just any magnetic stove than warms up when shaken will do. No, you must look for the following, specific markings:

  • Two upright standing lions with a palm tree in between the lions.
  • The palm tree MUST have exactly five leaves on top.
  • A human portrait or wrist fists clenched on the other side

A very popular design, I’m sure.


So, here is another angle on the Red Mercury scam: the same properties ascribed to the hoax substance can be found in a very specific type of German stove made and sold prior to World War I.  Great.

But as ever: Red Mercury does not exist; anyone who tries to sell you some is a liar and con artist and should be reported to the proper authorities.

Michael P. Moore

Moe (at) landminesinafrica (dot) org

September 20, 2017



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