re-ageing of bwm

[madman]

hi all

i have searched for a similar topic but was unable to find anything , i apologise if such topic exists , basically i am hope'ing for advice on something a friend told me , to cut a long story short a cousin of mine inherited my great grandfathers trio and thote it would be wise to clean them , he started with the bwm but soon realised it didnt look right ,, now my question is would this tip i was given be acceptable practice hopefully arguments will not arise frm this afterall all we are trying to do is honour and respect our ancestors sacrifice ,, i was told that if i burned a candle and slowly crossed the medal over the flame a black residue would be left which could be smudged around to stick in dints and lettering apparantly this would give the look of age just thote i would check with the varied expertease on the gwf before i even thote about doing anything

thanks in advance nathan

[john in minnesota]

Liver of Sulphur or "Silver Black" will add instant tarnish. Or just leave it alone and tarnish will form in a month or two.

[rumplestiltskin]

Let it tarnish naturally it will look much better,my great-grandfathers have never been touched and they look fine to me.

Regards Terry.

[bob lembke]

Forgers have all sorts of tricks.

I used to be a serious collector of Roman coins. Generally "cleaning" was undesirable, but sometimes I had coppers of slight value with significant deposits of ancient crud. After pecking at them VERY carefully, flaking off deposits (not tarnish, but crud, earth, even obscuring the coin) with careful oblique pressure with soft or at least not pointed tools, I turned to good old time to mellow the coin. (There was no polishing here.) I left the hobby, although I have about 300 coins in a safe deposit box in a bank, but in my old disused office I still have 20-30 coins that I have "cleaned" sitting on a sheet of paper sitting on top of a high bookcase for about 24 years; I imagine that their patina is in good order.

Forgers have all sorts of potions, bury stuff for a while, whatever.

Bob Lembke

[PhilB]

Putting it in the vicinity of a rotten egg should help - the hydrogen sulphide produces the blackish silver sulphide patina that natural ageing forms.

[sutton-in-craven]

Putting it in the vicinity of a rotten egg should help - the hydrogen sulphide produces the blackish silver sulphide patina that natural ageing forms.

Yes I've heard of this too, the rotten egg treatment for tarnishing silver. But as has been said already, silver tarnishes on its own after a few months. Some BWMs that I have are virtually black having tarnished over the years.

Conversely, some people prefer to silver-dip war medals for display purposes. Once the silver medal is shiny as new, lightly coat it with hair-spray to prevent it tarnishing.

[ph0ebus]

I think the key thing is for the entire medal to have contact with the air, not just one side. I recently polished up my old Kiddush cup and set it back in the cabinet. The parts exposed to the air re-oxidized quickly (much to my dismay) but the underpart of the base remained as shiny as the day I got it. If you leave it laying flat you may find some of the underside does not oxidize like the rest. Maybe find a way to hang it so all sides get some fresh air?

-Daniel

[madman]

thanks all for your words of advice ,

i would like to make apparent that my question was in no way of finding ways of forgeing and cheating people , it was only intended to make my ggrandfathers bwm more inkeeping with the rest of his medals

thanks all again

regards nathan