How To Store And Display Awards.

[Jeffrey Meffert]

Do you have coal burning power plants or industry in your area? Even a little bit of sulfur in the air will do this.

[EricFG]

I live 3 or 4 miles from the Gulf of Mexico with very humid conditions. I do not have any sort of silver tarnishing issues. Neither my medals in a glass case nor my uncased silver jewelry turn black at all.

[CtahhR]

I would suggest the Baltic is the main issue here. As already stated salt and silver are not good bedfellows.

They would have aged differently stuffed in a drawer but how much are things hidden away openly appreciated?

I miss the Baltic I used to spend hours swimming in it every day... Considerably more salty than many other seas/ocean I have flailed about in.

[medals73]

Since the vast majority of my collection is medals to the Indian Army (some with a Queen/King-Emperor on them, some not) and they are silver, the problems or tarnish are a constant concern for me. The goal is to stabilize the patina without inflicting polishing or other forms or permanent violence on the medal. If I were going on 200 years old, patina would be a natuiral part of me as well. Depending on how you store your medals, there are tarnish preventing packages of chemicals and cloths made (though some aren't ribbon-friendly). Just ask your local jeweler (if they sell silver plate and silverware).

[Tretov]

Again, thank You all for your kind support and advice It feels much better now!

Do you have coal burning power plants or industry in your area? Even a little bit of sulfur in the air will do this.

When I think about it. Just 100 metres away is also the main harbour where about a dozen of large passenger ferries arrive each day. They exhaust quite a lot of smoke.

[CtahhR]

I'm always interested in almost anything if the price is right.

Thinking of OLD Medals, we usually see pre-1900 and maybe more pre-1850 awards only in books or museums. Museums although usually rather showy with nice things do also hold vast reserves of unseens to rotate.
Where are the others? but more importantly how are they being stored?

I know I have been guilty of hiding things away in drawers. I had the 1908 Austro-Hungarian Medal "For Foreigners" knocking about in a drawer for 10 years before I set off on the journey of giving it the correct attention. I also have some 17th century Medals somewhere unknown to myself that I was given over 20 years ago.

When we do not correctly understand what something is we can very frequently be guilty of neglecting it. Is this the case for many unseen awards?

I certainly hope this forum has educated many people into a greater understanding of what exists. It is a never ceasing fountain of information to me.

[Tommy]

My Motherhood Medal 1st class is begining to look a little Murky and dark, but i am reluctant to do anything too it as i don't know any method that guaranteed won't damage it!

Not quite the Same as an order of the October Revolution! But i'd like to clean it up a little, ust to get a bit more definition back in the features of the faces.

Tommy

[CtahhR]

Right, back to the game.
Plenty more awards out there to find and ensure they are stored correctly.

I usually find storing them in the collection here is my preferred choice but I may be the only person of that opinion.

As everyone knows I like to be "organised" so I do put considerable time into cataloguing and storing away items in an ordered fashion. This can be difficult when large packages arrive as large numbers of items need to be shuffled in. I try to know exactly where everything is for the very quickest access possible. Saying is easier than doing.

I am currently (or should that be constantly?) recataloguing the entire collection with more precision than previous times. This process will probably take 4 solid weeks once I get stuck in.

The logistics of collecting sometimes needs great concentration.

[medals73]

Very well put, "CathhR". It isn't just a matter of accumulating or competing with others, the fun comes in the research and, yes, even in the cataloging.

I keep my catalogue in MSWord and just the Soviet material is two volumes (groups and singles, respectively 739 and 343 pages). And the catalogues are in a constant process of revision, even though not a lot of new stuff is being added these days. For organization (or it just being anal compulsive?) I assign numbers to individual items and to groups; if another group were to come in it would be G494 and the next single item, whether grouped or orphaned, would be 6582. I have clearly been doing this for too long.

Unfortunately, most items live in the bank vault, so as close as I come to fondling my friends is the virtual fondling of the scans in the catalogue.

[aironmeiden]

Sorry aironmeiden, it is a secret between Tretov and me ( and advanced collectors). Italian collectors are not ready. They are good collectors but they need more experience. They have only a school knowledge about Soviet awards. To understand Soviet awards you need more knowledge not directly linked to your passion. They are like a little intelligent boy at his first school day compared with an old well-known scientist. They have not an inner market. There isn't a 'Soviet' market in your country. All others have their markets. Italians are all focused on Italian awards so there are no chances to compete with other buyers (British, German, Russian, American buyers). They are like North Korea, they isolate themselves. They are not ready because they think no more than pocket money can be spent on soviet items. I started to buy Soviet items 20 years ago. European awards were my first passion and I remain interested in those items but I added a 'Soviet passion'. My first passion cannot be considered better than the other. This is the difference between us and Italian collectors.

No problem progress, keep your secret for you :thumbsup
We do not take the bait of your provocations this is the difference between us and the stupid collectors.