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Tal Inbar · 11-28-2002, 09:16 PM

Yes, they were ment to be worn. But I feel that the awards in my collection is in my responsibility to be kept at the best conditions, for the next generations...seriously, I mean it.

Of course, every collector can make his own approach.

Tal

HuliganRS · 11-28-2002, 09:57 PM

Tal Inbar: Do you clean your medals or leave them as is?

Rusty.

Tal Inbar · 11-28-2002, 10:00 PM

When I was a novice collector I used to clean...:o But not anymore!

Ed_Haynes · 11-28-2002, 10:05 PM

Not to snarl, but cleaning is on other threads.

Simple rule: Do NOTHING that is permanent, nothing that cannot be reversed. Clean with mild soap, tepid water, and a baby-soft toothbrush to remove surface grime only, but leave toning, patina, and character intact!

And leave old ribbons alone, please. Otherwise you'd strip away part of a medal's soul and history!

Ed Haynes

HuliganRS · 11-28-2002, 10:10 PM

Ed_Haynes: I am 100% against messing with the medals in any way. Some people believe they have to shine and the ribon has to be perfect... I want my medals to be as close to 100% original as I can get them, that includes grime unatractive toning, etc.

Rusty.

Matthias · 12-02-2002, 06:37 PM

Wow what great replies to his question!

I mount mine sort of like Dave does his (you can see his at his website), tho I spend a lot of time and effort into making my better groupings and/or singles into interprative displays if I can, so instead of the ODM, OBs etc mounted alone, I have other material as well. Someday I'll bring a few to Max. Maybe I will try some of the same cases Dave uses though...they're nice looking.

Most "standard" type medals (ie a ribbon and a disc medal portion) I usually store in the plastic type medal wrappers until I am ready to place them in their new home. I store docus in 3-ring binders w/mylar sheets...same with copies of docus. This' especially handy with stuff like Vietnam era casualty groupings and the like. I have one KIA PH with two full 3" binders and another that's bout half full and still growing (includes his service file, IDPF, morning reports, various other reports, radio logs, a few eyewitness accounts I've compiled, info from varios refs etc). Boy does it all add up.

Some of the tougher to handle ODM, ie Red Stars etc (ie just about any screwback, I use various containers and materials. A nice, plastic (new unused) soap container works good for several ODM, but I would only use it short term.

I have a few BritComm groupings that I recieved in custom cases...I usually leave them be, or temporarily move them to a case.

M