Restoring gold

[Rod]

Well this may offend the purists, but when I buy an item I don't have any intent to resale and so far I have kept to that. I would never sell without fully explaining the history as I know it of my item.

I have had a few situations in the case of gold medals where they have been damaged or stained.

I have found a really great product called "Treasure Gold" at my local craft shop. It is some sort of wax (I think) that if used sparingly really does a fantasic job. It is a touch up and not really a restoration.

My intent is not to deceive by faking but rather to preserve.

Just a suggestion....

Rod

Edited April 18, 2007 by Rod

[JimZ]

What exactly does this do to the medal Rod? Do you have any before and after pictures? I understand t hat by stain u might mean patina.....argo thr product removes the patina. But then you say its a touch up.... is it a clear wax or a golden wax which smoothes dents and dings by filling them with some sort of substance?

I do not like the sound of this very much but i'll hold back my comments until I can fully understand what the product is and what it does.

We promise not to take any offence!! After all this is a forum whereby we share experiences in the hope that we can find the best ways to preserve our treasures. Of course we will not always agree on methods but I believe that the end goal of preservation should be the same.

Jim

[Rod]

Hi Jim,

This comes in a very small shallow container. Very inexpensive. Sort of reminds me of a ladies make up item. It is a cream not meant for a filler but a touch-up to a nicked or scratched gilt finish or to cover small stain marks. Application with a finger tip works well. As I said .. to be used sparingly and applied in a very thin coat. Dries quickly but I think should be left to full dry overnight with maybe some help from a hair dryer before light buffing. Sorry I have no pics.

Hope this helps,

Rod

Edited April 19, 2007 by Rod

[Ed_Haynes]

Eewwwww. I don't much like the sound of this. You have to wonder what this evil concoction will look like and what it will have done to the medal after 15-20 years. We need to be careful about acting too aggressivel;y on the mistaken idea that we "own" these things and can, therefore, do to them whatever we wish.

[JimZ]

I must agree with Ed completely on this one. In principle it sounds like a paint polish of sorts that scratches off paint particles and spreads them thinly together with additional colouring to cover the damage and act as a filler over scratches. Just that polishing gold and polishing a painted surface are different concepts......and the crude polishing of the former is effectively doing nothing more than scratching and damaging it further.

I think that generally, (and even not) "Hair dryer" and "buffing" are not words we should ever want to have in the same sentence with "medal" or "order". Be indeed very wary about using this product and I would rather recommend that, based on what you are saying, do not use it at all. In fact try to throw it away to avoid any temptation!!!

As for the ethical considerations, medals worn in combat are often scratched and scarred, as they are indeed made out of softer metals like silver, gold, brass and enamel that do not take too much abuse. Of course there is no telling whether a scratch came from the battle field or whether cousin Elmo's son accidentally dropped the it when he was handling it. But I think that any medal in its natural beauty, without "make up" or polish is still the best looker of them all!

Jim

[JimZ]

One other thing that came to mind.

IF this stuff glows under UV light, its going to leave so many visible traces when anyone black lights your medal. Hence, a medal which is entirely original and just has a few scratches and dings may light up like a christmas tree just because of this product, and one may actually draw conclusions that something is very wrong with the medal.

I just thought it was worth sharing this thought as what the eye don't see, the black light can many a time reveal!!

Jim

[Les]

Gold generally does not tarnish or oxidize if it's "pure." If your medal shows signs of tarnish, etc., it is either alloyed with another metal and less than 80% gold. The medal might be mercury gilted or plated over another type of metal. What you could be seing is the gilt or plating wearing thin and the base metal starting to show (and tarnish or corrode).

If you absolutely, positively, -have- to clean the medal to halt corrosion, one way to remove oxidation or tarnish (and any post-maufacture patina it developed over the years) is to use a sonic cleaner of the type used for cleaning jewelery. Sonic cleaners are cheap, and available at many large chain stores for less than US$10.

Les

[JimZ]

What you could be seing is the gilt or plating wearing thin and the base metal starting to show (and tarnish or corrode).

That is an interesting angle indeed which I did not consider as I was thinkingh fo solid gold as opposed to plating or gilting. In this case the application of any polish like material is even more dangerous to the medal as the gilting/plating is most often very thin and easily worn out if tampered with.

If I look back at Soviet Orders 2 examples can be mentioned.

The first is the Order of Nevsky with fine gilting on prominent points of the order such as the battle axes and wreath. More often than not, this gold wears out and many examples can be seen with little and even no trace of the gilting. In such a case, what is already fine and thin gilting will be surely irreperable damaged should this be tampered with.

The second case in point can be say the - Orders of Lenin or the Order of Great Patriotic War with Gold star burst. These are solid gold and hence soft. Application of any materials (especially abrasive) will usually lead to scratching the surface. Not as damaging as in the case of gilting but still a "NO NO!!" in my opinion.

Gold generally does not tarnish or oxidize if it's "pure."

Agreed. Yet patinas that darken the original gold are observed. Or perhaps it is indeed impurities in the gold through inferior wartime manufacture.

Jim

PS - What exactly do you mean by "sonic cleaner"?? Is this some sort of ultraspound kit as used by dentists??

[Kev in Deva]

Hallo Gents,

Solid Gold! surely too soft to be used in anything, thats why its mixed with other alloys to make it durable in the manufacture of items.

Kevin in Deva

[Les]

PS - What exactly do you mean by "sonic cleaner"?? Is this some sort of ultraspound kit as used by dentists??

Jim,

Yes, the cleaning kits sold in jewelery departments of chain stores, and the kits sold by dentists operate on the same principle. You put the item into a small cup-like container, add a water-based solvent which usually contains ammonia as it's active agent, and turn the machine on. Depending on the strength of the solvent, the item comes out "clean" in about five or ten minutes.

Les