How To Store And Display Awards.

[rboomsma]

Hello Dolf

Nice collection, I see you have been collecting all the mongolian medals and badges. Mongolia has a lot of different medals and badges don't they.

YOu have on Order I would like to one day get for my soviet collection. Order of Glory 1st class. One day I hope to get one.

Ok, another little update, including a new larger Display for Mongolian Medals, a few new Ribbons for Mongolian Orders and Medals, some new Badges and Medals and a new Display (one of those cheap Riker mounts) for some Mongolian ribbon bars and Friendship Pins.
Also, my latest addition to my Soviet Orders, a beautiful Nevsky T3 for which the research results have been recently posted on another thread.

Best,

Dolf

[Dolf]

Hello Dolf

Nice collection, I see you have been collecting all the mongolian medals and badges. Mongolia has a lot of different medals and badges don't they.

Yes they do have plenty of stuff to look for and collect for a long time indeed!
I try hard to assemble every piece I can find in order to form groups as large as possible by subjects: Military, Labor, State Security, Police, Agriculture, etc...
It takes many many hours of research, but imo it's very enjoyable

Dolf

Hello Dolf

YOu have on Order I would like to one day get for my soviet collection. Order of Glory 1st class. One day I hope to get one.

Ron,

The 1st Glory is NOT a 1st Class, unfortunatelly. It's a 3rd Class that has a funny golden look, that's all.
The 2nd one is a 2nd Class and the 3rd one is another 3rd Class.
Yes, I wish I could afford one of those 1st Class... I guess I should have done it a couple of years ago...

Best,

Dolf

[Dante688i]

Dolf & other interested forum members,

Since the beginning of this thread, I've been at times surprised, confused, and educated at all that has been discussed. Just let me say, I really think it's amazing how much information and assistance this forum provides. So while I'm sure it's very trite at this point, to Art and all the memebrs, thanks for an awesome forum!

Now, back to the subject at hand. In continuing to look for other display and storage options, I've come across a possible alternative to the wonderful IR style wood cases and the Riker mounts: :idea

Their called "clear view" boxes, available from Arhival Suppliers (I'll post a link at the end). The range in price from $12 - $20 depending on the size. All of them are at least 2 1/2" deep. They are made from a box board that is listed as "acid & lignin free." Then, the box tops have a clear window for viewing / display. Their listed as "archival quality."

While I'm not sure if these cover all the (chemical, physical & aesthetic) bases, they might be an option. I plan to order one to find out if their useful, so if anyone is interested, I will post my conclusions when it arrives.

In the meantime, here is the link for Archival Suppliers - just look for the "clear view" boxes:

http://www.archivalsuppliers.com/shop/category128.html

- Sean

[Dolf]

Sean,

Thanks a lot for the link.

Apparently these are made of cardboard, am I right?

Well, I recently received my last order from IR. This time, together with another 18x24x2" Hardwood Display Case (all mine are Walnut) for the 1st time I also ordered a couple of their "Black Collector Frames" (commonly called Riker mounts) that I intend to use for that "cheaper stuff" (Ribbon bars, Mong. Frienship pins, etc) as I was starting to really lack of place again, with the latest addition of quite a few Mong. Badges.
I'm not convinced by these cardboard displays...

So, so far, imho nothing beats those beautiful IR Hardwood Display Cases. The price is excellent for the final quality (the only thing that makes me :mad: is the shipping costs, but that's the way it is, they only charge what they pay for, it's just a question of weight), and at least so far (and as far as I know) no one complained about having his collection ruined by acid or lignin or some other bad product in those particular Displays. I'm extremely satisfied with them (Thanks a lot Dave!) and as long as I find nothing better (still waiting for Jim to enlight and help us all by letting us know where to find better stuff) that's what I'll keep using.
Don't worry, if it happens that I notice some deterioration of any of my pieces, and I guess there are quite a few different metals involved, silver, gold, platina, brass, aluminium, etc, I'll be the 1st to post here an alert!

Dave, as apparently you are the one among us using them for a longer time, if you notice some deterioration of your pieces, please let us know...

Best,

Dolf

[Dante688i]

Dolf,

The description states a type of boxboard - I can only assume that it is a higher quality (I would think this is necessity since it is an archival box) type of paper / card board.

I definitely agree that the IR display cases are wonderful - currently my entire collection is displayed in them. I just wanted to provide this link as another option that we might not know about, especially since it is an actual display box.

Just my two cents. . . again!

- Sean

While I'm starting to feel like a commercial in these last few posts , I wanted to mention another product I recently tried from the Light Impressions archival store.

An issue that was discussed in this thread is the preservation/storage of the documents that many of us have in our collections. Myself, I was looking for a way to better secure those small paper award booklets that I have with the certian medal groups, etc. Whether through handling or their inherent condition, some of the documents aren't in the best condition.

Light Impressions sells these photo sleeves made of an archival polyester that I was impressed with. While I've used page protectors in the past, these sleeves seem to be very high quality and provide better options for display, study, etc. They come in various sizes and styles - I tried the "foldlock" polyester sleeves. They are sealed on one side and have a locking flap that secures the contents. As such, you can choose whatever size fits your needs - the 3 5/8 x 5 1/2 size holds small award booklets perfectly. I recently rearranged one of my IR displays and placed the corresponding documents in the sleeves and into the display with the medals. This allowed me to overlap the docs and yet keep them seperate.

Anyhow, just wanted to share them with any interested members. Continued good luck with everyone's displays!

Link: http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/se...000:165000

- Sean

[medalklector]

Apologies if this has been covered before but I am interested in your views. Basically, I have purchased a number of medal albums, the typical three ring ones. These came with the standard plasic sheet which holds 6 medals.

My question is about the chemicals in the plastic and whether it could possibly be harmful to the medals over time?. I have asked the supplier but I only recieved a rather terse email back where he stated that millions of people can't be wrong (I'm pretty sure the population of pre WW2 Germany thought the same thing!!!).

It may be a stupid question but I'd rather find out sooner rather than later.

Cheers:confused:

[redmedals]

If your pages feel slippery or oily, if they have a scent to them and have the appeareance of multicolor oil slick reflections in them they are PVC pages and they will cause reactions with the metal and ribbons that over time will not be something you want happening.
The problem is that most easily obtainable pages are of PVC they make alot of this coming out of China.
Your pages if using them for medals should come in packages that state they are archivally safe. And this will cost you alot more than the cheap ones to buy but in the long run save your medals.
Ron

[Dave]

My opinion (not shared by many others) is this: The material probably won't hurt your awards, unless you are thinking of keeping your awards in the sleeves for five or ten years. At that point, chances are that the damage (if any) will be minimal at best.

There are actually many other things that will damage your awards much faster than what might be lurking in a particular plastic or wood. If you smoke, you're blowing tar all over your awards, and you wouldn't believe the nastiness that gets on uniforms from cigarette smoke! Other quickly damaging things are sunlight (UV) as well as your local air quality. On the topic of the latter, awards left exposed while I was living in Japan adopted a nearly black patina in just under a year! This was 100% due to the poor air quality where we lived.

Just my two cents.

Dave

[Dante688i]

medalklector,

First off, here is the thread that discussed everything from storage to display and hit on topics like "archival quality" and so forth: http://www.soviet-awards.com/forum/showt...php?t=2656

You've probably already looked at it, but I thought it might be helpful .

As others have mentioned before, there are many differing opinions on this topic and rightly so - I think most of us are not only concerned with displaying and protecting our collections because we treasure and enjoy them as a hobby, but because they also have a significant historical and monetary value!
What I mean from that (probably unecessary ) soapbox rant, is that the decision is up to you!

I am very interested in (and somewhat concerned by) the issues of material quality in how I choose to store and display my collection, but I have to agree with Dave - my experiance is that there are other, more prominent issues. I think the best option is to choose what you think is the best system of storage and display (both aesthetically and quality-wise) and simply keep an eye on the collection. (not that that's usually a problem - I know I look at my collection daily )

Anyway, if you are concerned about the archival quality of the plastic album pages, here is a possible solution: http://www.dacardworld.com/sports/itemlist.das?Category=Pagealbums&nPar=1
This company listed a number of plastic album pages (including six pocket versions) that are all described as "archival" & "no pvc." I should mention that I have not had any experiace with this company or its products. This was simply the result of a little internet research!

Just another two cents! Hope its helpful!

- Sean

[medalklector]

Guys,

Thanks for the info. I think I found a temporary solution. The pockets have enough room to hold one of the single medal pockets (if that makes sense). So I will keep the Medals in the award friendly sleeves and insert them into the albums.

Cheers