Observing with a microscope I saw a black skirt on the straps and on the star (of buntmetall)
We wrote privately with Rick C.
Which I thank for the occasion and also agrees that it could be an artificial aging. By slightly raising the star you can see under that the golden threads are brand new. And there are no signs of oxidation on the golden thread and even on the silver ones.
What do you think?
As stated, Gigi shared some detailed/magnified photos via email and it appeared that (I'm guessing) some kind of marker was used to darken the braid and pips. It was most notable on the Russia braid where the darkening just stopped in places. In some cases where one 'side' of the Russia braid was dark while the other was not.
Whether the fact of being screwed with condemns the board entirely I don't know. It wouldn't hurt to investigate if there's something out there that might clear the (ink?) artificial aging off with damaging the materials they're constructed with.
Before reading the thread, I was of the opinion that the boards were artificially aged - looks like that has been borne out. I would not be comfortable with these as originals.
Comment