Tinnies Blackened Tinnies

[AlecH]

Hello All,

I've bought a couple of zinc day tinnies, the backs are clean, white, almost pristine, but the fronts are quite black, it difficult to see the detail without a eye glass, how's this condition come about ? and is it advisable to remove the black.

Regards

[Wood]

Hi Alec,

There were some tinnies that were produced with either a silver, bronze or blackened finish, for, as far as I can tell, no particular reason. there are also those that are pristine silver finish on the back but have lost all the finish on the front, I have never really understood why this happened, but would assume that it is the side that was always exposed to the elements.

Do not try to clean with any type of abrasive, use mild soap and water and a soft toothbrush, dry well, and spray with something like WD40.

(Obviously this only applies to metal tinnies!!!)

Regards,

Pete

[AlecH]

Hello Pete,

Thanks for the tips, I'll give it a try with soap & water, see how it goes. I've a friend who works in the jewellery quarter in B'ham, they make a lot of replica products. I hope to get in touch with him, he may have a couple of ideas. Perhaps sand spray with very fine grain sand, or if you've ever seen a watchmaker clean a watch - watch in a liquid solution with electric currant running through. I'll let you know if he comes up with anything.

Regards

Alec

[Colin Davie]

Tinnies with black fronts and pristine silver backs are just mint full stop, if you read period sales materials you will see these badges refered to as "Antiqued". So please don't clean them, they are perfect.

C