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

[CtahhR]

Don't believe in mobile phones... If someone wants me they know where I am. The only person I know with one of those camera phone thingies is away on military training for the next two weeks so that is the minimum time it'll take me unless I stumble over a pile of gold or something. If I do get my hands on a good quality camera I'll certainly be taking some photographs to share with the forum.

[leaftree]

What is considered original soldering? is it noticeable or blended in well? Do people convert variation 2 and 3's to a variation 1? Is black soldering from tin considered original?

These are just some questions that have been running through my head lately, and I haven't seen any posts/threads that address these.

Thank you

[desantnik]

Originally Posted by leaftree

What is considered original soldering? is it noticeable or blended in well? Do people convert variation 2 and 3's to a variation 1? Is black soldering from tin considered original?

These are just some questions that have been running through my head lately, and I haven't seen any posts/threads that address these.

Thank you

Solder was done by professionals so quality reflected that, however occasional sloppiness did occur. Silver solder was used - never tin so black means post-Mint work.

[leaftree]

Thank you for responding desantnik.
I should clarify that my questions are from looking at campaign medals ( Stalingrad, Budapest, Warsaw etc.) medals.
Did these rings have a tendency to break? I have several medals that are original, but I do see some black where the ring has been soldered on.
and last of all, was the ring always soldered together? On one of my medals the ring does not fully join together.
Sorry for shot-gunning so many questions, but it really frustrates me in this area of the medal and hinders my selection process when purchasing a medal.

I would think even if these guys are professionals, doing such a tedious job day in and out, they would tend to get a little sloppy.

Regards,

[desantnik]

Originally Posted by leaftree

Did these rings have a tendency to break? LIKE ANYTHING IN LIFE THINGS BREAK. I WOULD NOT CHARACTERIZE THEM AS HAVING A TENDENCY TO BREAK, HOWEVER.

was the ring always soldered together? SOMETIMES THE RING WAS SINGLE-PIECED, SOMETIMES IT WAS MADE AS PART OF THE MEDAL.

On one of my medals the ring does not fully join together. IT HAPPENS.

Sorry for shot-gunning so many questions, but it really frustrates me in this area of the medal and hinders my selection process when purchasing a medal. THEN WAIT AND PURCHASE BETTER EXAMPLES - MOST CAMPAIGN MEDALS ARE RELATIVELY COMMON

See above

[deValcourt]

He is right - most are plentiful and I doubt the prices are going to go up in price any time soon again. Most importantly, patience does pay off. It has taken me years to get the items I wanted and I still have a long wish list.

Phillip

[leaftree]

Thank you gentlemen. I'll leave it at that.

[GabrielMk3]

Sorry for bumping this, but I saw it almost a little bit important to say that you shouldn't remove patina, because patina is a reaction between special "noble metals". Noble metals, like gold, copper, silver, platinum and some more, doesn't corrode. Instead, patina is created on the surface when the metal is in contact with oxygen, so patina will always exist.

But, when patina is created, there is no more oxygen on the surface of the metal, therefore no more patina will be created at the area. BUT!!! If you remove the patina, more patina will be developed, and for each layer of patina you remove, a new one eats a little bit of the metal while being made, and this is like corrosion. But will only damage the metal if you polish it, let patina come back, polish it, and continue with this. Patina should rather be considered as a protective layer for the metal.

Hope this was understandable

Gabriel

[deValcourt]

One other point that I didn't see mentioned is that there is a great deal of gold and silver plating that was widely used on awards. The more you rub them with anything, including the bottom of your old t-shirt, the more of that layer you lose until it is gone all together - which rather defeats cleaning them in the first place.

I've used soapy water on a few badges to get gunk and grime out of spaces where that collects, but that's it; and the only reason I did that much was because after photographing them up close, the gunk looks much, much worse. Oh, and I use ony an old, well-worn toothbrush along with a long soak in the slightly soapy (Dawn) water.

Phillip

[EricFG]

You can tell where I stand on this issue by my sig quote.