Damaged, Repair, Clean, Preserve Soviet Awards And Documents.

[Kirchgoens]

Wear like that makes me think it was polished on a regular basis over many years by a pround veteran, and then left to sit for the past three or four years.

I've got a couple tsarist medals that can compete, but they are also 50 years older than this.

[EricFG]

Here's one I saw on the E-channel this morning.
Not so much well worn as worn out!

[EricFG]

I assume excessive polishing by the vet.

[Esteban_cool]

I recall seeing those glories in Dave´s collection. He stated that the vet polished them every single day. Maybe it was a differnt man, but the group was as worn as this one.

And I thought my OG III was worn because the clock didn´t show...

[Auke]

Sergei Nikolayevich Shishov.

[3aStalina]

and a name to match. shishov is the sound of cleaning/polishing something

a polisher by trade?

[ECD3]

Very sad day today...feels like I lost one of my children. My Liberation of Warsaw medal slipped out of my hands as I was moving it to my new case (go figure...was putting it into a protective case only to...well...read on). It fell onto the tile and had a clean break along the soldering line from where the ring was attached to the medal. So I took it to my father who told me to bring it to a jewelry store and have someone look at it, telling me he has broken antique things all the time and had it fixed (my dad collects watches). What are the thoughts on this? I heard it's just spot soldering and that it will be good as new, and since it was an originally soldered piece, I figure no big deal to have a professional look at it and attempt to fix it. I have heard a few different stories on what to do in such an occasion, but I am curious as to what you guys think.

Also this post has another purpose...to help me grieve for my loss...stupid butter-fingers

[EricFG]

I think your dad has the right idea: take it to a jeweler.
There's another thread around here about dropping awards. Lemme see if I can find it.

[Kirchgoens]

I'd recommend putting this into context. Warsaws are not hard to get, not expensive, and not individualized with s/n's etc. Unless there is something particularly special about this one, I'd chalk it up to experience, set it aside as a wounded warrior, and go find another. The fix will likely cost more than the medal is worth otherwise.

I've seen fixes on BMs, and have had one or two fixed, and they never look the same as an original. It's a tough one to re-do considering the guys who did the originals did thousands of them. That sort of practice leads to a skill we might not easily find today.

[Bogdan]

Drawing from my experience as a jeweler, the amount of cleaning up depends on which method he uses to repair it such as lead solder which can be done with a soldering iron or a low carat gold solder which requires a torch. There would be little to no clean up with lead solder but with the torch, it's going to be a lot because for gold solder to work the best, the area would have to be smooth and clean, making it necessary to use a fine abrasive wheel for the prep, using solder flux, etc., then the clean up afterwards in my opinion it is not worth it. For $10 it seems like it will be a simple lead solder job but he should use only the minimal amount of solder because everyone knows what lead solder looks like after it is exposed to air, it turns a dark gray ugly color that can't be changed by any method.

I agree with Kirchgoens, Brendan, and for me it would have been better to put the $10 towards another medal than to see the probable damage that will be done to this medal by the repair. I also agree with Jeff, repairing and/or cleaning will create the ugly stepchild that nobody really wants at least for display.