01-05-2004, 10:51 PM
Ed,
Until reading this thread I had little concern about the environment in which we cased/displayed our medals, etc. Nothing like the comfort of ignorance. After reading into it, I can now understand the necessity. Years ago a fella told me that if you came across a piece, let's say, a 1939 Iron Cross (EK1 for those of us who collect such) that had been cleaned by the previous owner, and you wanted to reapply the patina to the silver of the cross, you simply put it in a bowl with a cracked hard-boiled egg and cover it, you would surely see the patina reform on the silver after a 'season'. Sounds like a strange recipe, but the point is, there is no doubt that some agent (chemical) in the egg produces rapid changes on the parent silver. Some of you may know what this agent is that does this; I haven't a clue. I heard from another person that humidity really speeds up this process on silver as well. Sooo, it sounds like there are quite a few other hazards to consider. And, as another member stated, there are neutralizers which can be added to the environment to slow down or hopefully stop this ageing process.
It seems there's more to consider than just the expense $$$ of our hobby. And all the while the original recipient didn't give one thought toward all of this. He was just happy to have survived it, and show that he had.
Respects.
Robert
Until reading this thread I had little concern about the environment in which we cased/displayed our medals, etc. Nothing like the comfort of ignorance. After reading into it, I can now understand the necessity. Years ago a fella told me that if you came across a piece, let's say, a 1939 Iron Cross (EK1 for those of us who collect such) that had been cleaned by the previous owner, and you wanted to reapply the patina to the silver of the cross, you simply put it in a bowl with a cracked hard-boiled egg and cover it, you would surely see the patina reform on the silver after a 'season'. Sounds like a strange recipe, but the point is, there is no doubt that some agent (chemical) in the egg produces rapid changes on the parent silver. Some of you may know what this agent is that does this; I haven't a clue. I heard from another person that humidity really speeds up this process on silver as well. Sooo, it sounds like there are quite a few other hazards to consider. And, as another member stated, there are neutralizers which can be added to the environment to slow down or hopefully stop this ageing process.
It seems there's more to consider than just the expense $$$ of our hobby. And all the while the original recipient didn't give one thought toward all of this. He was just happy to have survived it, and show that he had.
Respects.
Robert
