Old White Silver Polish - Remove or NOT to Remove

[Darrell]

Hi. I have a question for the Purists out there.

I have a couple of medals dating from the 1900's to 1910's.

They are brass or bronze and the nooks and cranies are caked with what appears to be old Silver Polish. Should I carefully remove with a soft toothbrush and warm soapy water? Or leave as is.

Hard saying when it dates from. 50 years ago, 5 years ago?

What's more valuable? The stuff on it or off of it? I guess if it's off, you'd never know it was on would you?

[wh014d4394]

Hi. I have a question for the Purists out there.

I have a couple of medals dating from the 1900's to 1910's.

They are brass or bronze and the nooks and cranies are caked with what appears to be old Silver Polish. Should I carefully remove with a soft toothbrush and warm soapy water? Or leave as is.

Hard saying when it dates from. 50 years ago, 5 years ago?

What's more valuable? The stuff on it or off of it? I guess if it's off, you'd never know it was on would you?

be a devil take it off

[adlerfan53]

Get that crap off. Old polish on medals looks horrible.

[Stahlhelm]

Although I normally don't like to mess with anything, there are a few cases where even I make exceptions. This is one of them.

However, as I just said earlier in another thread here, cleaning this stuff is always very risky business. What may seem like an easy and justifiable job of cleaning off old cleaning paste can more easily turn into a nightmare. The problem is that you just never know what's underneath the stuff you're cleaning off. Many times, collectors clean off corrosions, etc. only to find that the contrasting color of the metal beneath (without its original finish) is no more attractive than what was cleaned off. Specifically, I'm talking about the effect of cleaning off most corrosions. Depending on how long this residue has been on the medal, it could have, by now, had much the same effect as a corrosion. Who knows?

Again, although I would also want to clean this stuff off (and likely would), I would also brace myself for what's beneath it. I hate what I call "militaria artifact cleaner's remorse". There's no reversing the results you get, and no cure for the remorse.

Good luck!

Chris