That dreaded word - corrosion...

[Robert P.]

I'm seeing badges here and there that are degenerating under their overlayment of silver, gold or bronze finishes. I've personally had a badge years ago that the edges of the badge fell to pieces in my hand. This corrosion differs from one maker to the next I'm sure. I can't help but think that the feinzinc pieces we are buying now may some day fall to dust, each in it's own time. We expect to see our collections go up in value over time, but at the same time, as the corrosion sets in, we take a loss. So there's a point of no return somewhere down the road. I realize some pieces may take generation to finally come to this. Perhaps their handling, mixing of alloys, etc. was under tighter quality control. I know this has been discussed in length before, and people don't really want to address the issue anymore. But I'd like to ask a question regarding storage for longevity. What is the best method for storing these zinc artifacts?

I'm posting two photos for example, one from a dealer's site...

Robert

[Robert P.]

Can we expect to see this happen to all of our zinc pieces?

[Nordmark]

Hi Robert,

as long as we don******180;t have any proof of the storage surroundings, it is very hard to tell.

What do we know about the shown badges? Were they laying around on a dusty moisty attic, while water drips on the old leather bag were they are in? We can never be sure, what kind of surroundings these badges come from.

I think there are only a few makers, that can be related to zinc pest. A Flak badge of a certain maker comes in my mind(forgot this one...). But what calms me down, is the fact that you can still buy stone mint badges. I mean, they survived 60 years in their condition, why should this change? I for my part can******180;t hardly imagine the fact, that every badge may fall to dust in the next 10 years.


But it is a frightening vision, I admit.


Regards,

Daniel

[Robert P.]

It may sound a little crazy, and I may be cutting myself out of many fine 3rd Reich collectibles, but I have chosen to collect mainly the early brass, bronze or tombak-based badges, medals, daggers, etc... I know they'll survive the elements far better than the zinc pieces. You pay the price for the tombak pieces, but the personal appeal and the investment are there. I'd still have a very hard time passing up a JFS silver CCC in zinc. Anyone have one they're tired of looking at?

Robert

[Greg]

Robert,

There's some discussion on the Conservation / Safe Keeping Forum about materials to use and not use for storing zinc items (here's a thread http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...hlight=storage ).

IMO, the zinc rot or Zinkpest shown in your second photo is the more dangerous type of deterioration. I've seen that get worse over time, especially on badges by AS in triangle (Scholze or whoever). It's a little surprising to me to see it that bad on a Frank & Reif badge as you showed, but Zinkpest like that will just continue to get worse. The Vaseline treatment appears to stop it, but I don't know if anyone has tested that for a long time to see if it's permanent.

IMO, what shows in the first PAB photo from Detlev's update is a reaction of a particular type of finish. I have a Wurster PAB that has exactly that type of bubbing on the back, and it's been like that for over 10 years with no change. I don't know of anything that can be done to treat bubbling finish like that.

Best,
Greg

[fischer]

Hello

This may sound stupid but here goes...

If you have a badge with zinkpest and it is in a case with other badges made of zinc (not touching each other) can it spread?

Is this stuff like the "common cold"?

Regards, fischer

[Lorenzo Brown]

Hello

......Is this stuff like the "common cold"?

Regards, fischer

No. I think the "pest" in "zincpest" causes folks to think it is a virus. Zinc corrosion (zincpest) is caused by moisture, changes in humidity and contaminants ...much as rust afflicts iron for the same reasons.

Keep your zinc badges clean and protected from humidity and contaminants and they should last for a very long time. As stated by Nordmark, there are minty zinc badges that are over 60 years old without a trace of deterioration.

[Robert P.]

Thoughts from Greg:
IMO, the zinc rot or Zinkpest shown in your second photo is the more dangerous type of deterioration. I've seen that get worse over time, especially on badges by AS in triangle (Scholze or whoever). It's a little surprising to me to see it that bad on a Frank & Reif badge as you showed, but Zinkpest like that will just continue to get worse.

I'm thinking that this badge you're referring to must have been around a very humid atmosphere. It looks like a ground-dug example, except for the remaining finish being so nice. Or, like I stated before, I believe also that it happens from poor quality control, or merely poor-quality metals to begin with. Let's face it, they cut corners everywhere in the last months of the war. They were scrambling to make new injection molds, experimenting with new alloyed base metals, etc. When you look at the change from die- forging feinzinc to the injection mold development, they really had their hands full. I'm sure most of these new processes were purely experimental. If it passed the 'drop-test' it was a keeper. It's surprising they even kept making badges, period.

I would be curious whether the die-forged zinc pieces were of better quality than the injection-molded pieces? You would think the forged pieces would be more stable in the long run. The injection process left internal porosity (trapped air bubbles).

I thank you for all of your thoughts, and also for pointing out the link for award storage on the forum. Sometimes we get too busy to remember there are tools onboard to help us.

Robert

[Tim B.]

I'd still have a very hard time passing up a JFS silver CCC in zinc. Anyone have one they're tired of looking at?

Robert



Not yet!
Tim <!-- / message -->

[fischer]

Thanks Lorenzo...

Regards, fischer