How To Store And Display Awards.

[Dolf]

Originally Posted by Dave

Concur- There is no room between the award and the glass, thus the reason why I like the IR frames. While I've been asked about that damaging the award, think about what Soviet awards that you know of that have enamel on the highest point of the award. The only one that's even debateable is the banner on the October Revolution... All the others have metal touching the glass. Last I checked, I don't think glass is going to hurt silver/gold/platinum! Also, the glass very nicely holds documents of varying thickness in place. I can have a general's ID book (quite thick) right next to a single page document, and have them both held into place nicely.
--Dave

Dave,

I couldn't agree more with you.
Just a side note about Soviet Awards having enamel on the highest point:
Sure I'm not an expert, and I don't have a Order of the October Revolution (yet ) but from the 23 Soviet Awards I currently own, I have one where the enamel touches the glass. It's a Guards Badge, with it's Red enameled Star right on the center of the Award. So obviously in this case the enamel is under pressure of the glass, but it's yet to see if it will damage the enamel with time.

Originally Posted by Dave

3/4" equates to just over 19mm. There is more pressure under the glass of an Indian River case because it is in a wood frame with a wood backing. The riker mount is made of cardboard, and thus will "bend" under pressure, which, in turn, takes pressure off of nearby areas causing slippage (if that makes sense). Let me try to get a picture of what I mean this evening.
--Dave

Thanks a lot for the clarification, I really appreciate it.
Will be waiting for the Pic, to get a better ... picture

Originally Posted by Dave

One good other purpose that I remembered for the riker mounts (and what I use the six I kept for) is storing bits of ribbon, metal kolodki, etc... They stack well, and with the glass top, I can see what I'm getting at.
--Dave

Would you recommend these Riker Mounts for the purpose of storing Docs?


Again thank you very much,

Dolf

[Robert Pierce]

Hello, Everyone.
Riker Mounts definitely are good, and are easily attainable and affordable on the net. I have custom frames made at the craft stores that allow a Riker Mount to drop into, including a piece of plywood to prevent the back from 'bowing' as one of the members mentioned. It works just fine. With the right filler (cardboard) you can get just the 'right' pressure to hold everything in place. Here are some photos to illustrate:

Respects.
Robert

[Dave]

Robert's idea of a frame to slide the riker into is pretty good. I do like that! Attached at the bottom is a pic of the demise of my riker mounts. (These were 2" rikers, incidentally.)

This next pic down is of the 3/4" riker holding a Homeland 3rd, with no foam in the mount, just the mount and medal. I tried to get a pic of the mount "bowing", but I couldn't do it with one hand!

This final pic is of a Guards badge in my collection. I don't really consider them to be "awards", thus the reason I didn't include them in my previous post. The star doesn't rest fully on the glass, it actually rests on the area between the star and banner (hopefully you can see that in the pic.)

--Dave

[Robert Pierce]

Hello, again.
This is just my thought here on this. As you can see in the previous photo, I only have a few lesser expensive orders/medals in the Riker Mount wall frame. If I were going to be mounting the upper-end orders, which have a lot of enamel, I would like to have some space between the medals themselves and the glass. I'd be worried that the pressure might fracture the enamel. The Red Stars that are in the framed display acually contact the glass ONLY on the silver center of the order. If I were to mount medals/orders in a vertical display and didn't want the enamel of the piece to contact the glass I would just simply pin them to the backing material with the same pin that is on the medal itself. Simple enough. I just wouldn't want anything to contact that delicate enamel. An expensive order can become an unwanted item real quick if some of it's enamel chips off. But if you find that the contact works for you, then that settles that for you. Perhaps I worry about it too much. I suppose it depends upon how much pressure would be applied. Food for thought.

Good thread. I've always wondered how everyone else displays/protects their valuable collectibles.

Respects.
Robert

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Robert Pierce

I'd be worried that the pressure might fracture the enamel.

Robert-

You are absolutely right. I would be hesitant about the enamel on the glass as well. However, like I said in my previous post, I don't know of any awards (not withstanding the Guards badge) except for the October Revolution that has enamel touching the glass (see pic). Even at that, I believe the enamel can easily withstand the pressure of the glass.

Now, interestingly, I took a good look at my mounted groups in frames (27 total) in writing this post. I did notice that on two (out of six) Homeland 3rd groups had the end of the star on the tip of the Homeland slightly "blunted", a defect I didn't remember from when I got the group originally. Was it because of the glass pressure? I don't know, but I will certainly keep an eye on them...

Here's one of my blunted stars. From the glass? I don't know...

--Dave

[Robert Pierce]

Beautiful medals, Dave! And good photography. Those are two that I have yet to aquire. It's interesting. Just another thought that popped up in my mind. I know that all glass products, even enamels have a varying hardness. They are tempered, intentionally or otherwise. The question is, which is the most brittle or softest or hardest or.....? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand what happens when something harder hits, or is pressed against something softer or more brittle. Contact with these precious enamels is what's forefront in my mind. There is a point where something has to give, and it doesn't take an earthquake to get things started. Varying degrees of temperature can do it. The enamel must already be in a state of stress, bonding to something that expands and contracts at a different rate. Adding yet again another stress point could upset this 'balance'. Again, just food for thought. Since reading this thread I am already convinced that your displays are the nicest I've seen. I like the wood accent. Perhaps there is a very thin, very transparent (almost invisible) buffer you could place over the points of the awards that contact the glass. That would add a lot of protection and would still show the pieces uninterupted. What do you think?

Respects.
Robert

[Dolf]

Gentlemen,

What can I say? I can only subscribe Robert's words when he says "Good thread" and add that at least in my humble opinion this is indeed one of the most enlightening threads I've read in the Forum! I've really learned a lot from your expertise and wish to thank you all for the pleasant and rich reading, the pictures and all the wise advices! Bravo!
Lots of food for thought here!

Thank you all,

Dolf

PS: Too late now (almost 3:00 AM here) to analyse and "digest" all the details of the recent previous posts + reply and ask any eventual questions, but will be back soon

[otlichnik]

If you are using the tension or pressure of the case to keep the award in place - i.e. you need to have it pressed against the glass - then there is little you could do to soften this. I am sure there must be some sort of plastic film around but it would be a lot of work to cut and put/glue into place.

The other option is to fasten the awards to the base material - i.e. put screw posts through fabric-wrapped cardboard, pin medals to it, etc. so that they stay in place without needing contact with the glass. You can then use a thicker/deeper case or use small wooden blocks to keep the glass away from the awards.

Shawn

[Ed_Haynes]

How much pressure is too much? Is any contact too much? I do not know and know only one way to determine that: the kind of experiment that most of us would not care to run.

Whether the inert polyester backing and intrisnic flexibility of a Riker Mount cushions enough is another question. Whether replacing that backing with other substances may not intoduce harmful emissions into the envionment is another question.

My brain hurts.

I find Riker Mounts satisfactory as I do not consider the pressure is that much. But most of my collection is not populated by the high-end thick orders. I do worry about a few items with already-fragile enamel (a RFSR Red Banner for example). But most of my collection (e.g., British imperial silver medals) is more chemically sensitive than are most Soviet awards.

There is always the traditional (and space- and cash-consuming) medal cabinet. Yet if one has the cash and the wall space (and the tolerant spouse) for wall cabinets, then a medal cabinet may be a cost-effective alternative. Ages ago when I had portions of my collection in custom-built cabinets on the wall, there was always the problem of how to attach them to the backing without doing damage. Thumbtacks, glue, velcro all present the threat of irreversible damage to the medal.

There is the additional danger of any medal cabinet advertising "THIS CABINET CONTAINS VERY EXPENSIVE ITEMS AND IS EASILY ACCESSED WITH RUDIMENTRY TOOLS", but a traditional drawer-style cabinet is less visible that a wall-frame displaying your medals. A drawer-style cabinet has the downside of not having your medals on constant display, but this a condition shared with a bank vault.

Drawers can be as deep as you need and inert plastic rings can provide a "seat" for screwback awards.

No commercial recommendations, but for cabinet ideas see:

http://www.coincabinets.com/main.html

http://store.yahoo.com/woodstore/colcab.html (but use safe materials only)

http://www.vikingmetal.com/mus/search/228.html

On the very tricky issue of the right substances to use in storing a medal collection, see:

http://web.archive.org/web/200107091...nddisplay.html

Much to think about, but these are our babies after all!

Ed

[Robert Pierce]

Ed,
Thank you, sir, for all the links. A lot of variables to consider. Personally, I am of a mind to have my medals where I can see them myself. That's 90% of the enjoyment of owning them. Keeping your display cabinets (whatever your choice) out of sight from those who might consider walking off with their contents is important. So I think another room in the house would be the place, not the front room. And you could add a dead-bolt to the door of this separate room to secure it when you were away from home.
I also like my pieces easily accessible to me, that is, where I can easily remove them for study, photography or just letting someone such as a friend handle them. I like Shawn's idea of a deeper display case to keep the medals away from contact with the glass but, on the other hand, pinning them down (as even I mentioned earlier) almost prevents you from doing any of the above. Alas, this is why I chose to put them in an upright wooden furnishing (multi-shelved) in another room separate from the main traffic area of my home. I have three areas of collecting: WWll USSR, WWll Germany and WWll USA. I'm going to display everything I have of all three areas resting on period flags of these three countries. Daggers, medals, orders, pins, patches, dogtags, etc. I would still like to use the Indian River wall frames to display sets like the Order of Glory and Order of Lenin (upper-end pieces) with documents and photos just as Dave has done. IMO, I think acid-free photography plastic will work fine to keep the enameled orders safe from hazard against the glass. And the show goes on...

Here's an example that illustrates your idea of keeping space between the medals and the glass. In this custom frame I had made, the black velvet material is wrapped around the cardpaper as you described and the medals were attached to the velvet by means of very fine wire thread. I just punched holes through the velvet-covered cardpaper with a pin and strung the wire through these holes. It worked very well. BTW, I stapled the velvet to the cardpaper around the very edge or perimeter. All the staples are hidden behind the wooden recess in the frame (as I have hidden half of my ugly mug behind the camera ).

Robert

two more photos to help illustrate the velvet-covered cardpaper and the space needed between the medals and backing...