You seem to imply the Pb-210 only starts decaying after the refining occurs. I'm as curious about this as the grandparent - why? Edit: Figured it out in the re

You seem to imply the Pb-210 only starts decaying after the refining occurs. I'm as curious about this as the grandparent - why? Edit: Figured it out in the reddit thread linked elsewhere ( https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/pg14g/til_that_ancient_roman_lead_is_valuable_for/c3p8jsa/ https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/pg14g/til_th... ) The key appears to be isolating the lead from co-occurring uranium which can decay into the Pb-210. It's not that the refined lead is losing Pb-210 any faster, it's just that there's no longer any uranium generating more of it. Fascinating!