Here's a fun science experiment you can do with a silver Soviet order/medal.
Hardboil an egg. Take out of the yolk. Break a piece off of it, and *smush* it on the medal real good. Rinse the medal off in hot water, lightly dry with a cloth, then put it in a drawer for a few days. As a reference, put away an accompanying "un-egged" medal at the same time.
Accelerated tarnishes like this are easier to rub off than ones that have developed over longer periods of time.
Back to the gasoline method, I guess it depends on how long the item is kept aflame. Gasoline fires tend to get *very* hot, hotter than the temperatures use to cure hot-baked enamel. And too long of an exposure to such hot temperatures can darken the enamel.
Hardboil an egg. Take out of the yolk. Break a piece off of it, and *smush* it on the medal real good. Rinse the medal off in hot water, lightly dry with a cloth, then put it in a drawer for a few days. As a reference, put away an accompanying "un-egged" medal at the same time.
Accelerated tarnishes like this are easier to rub off than ones that have developed over longer periods of time.
Back to the gasoline method, I guess it depends on how long the item is kept aflame. Gasoline fires tend to get *very* hot, hotter than the temperatures use to cure hot-baked enamel. And too long of an exposure to such hot temperatures can darken the enamel.
