K&Q Verwundetenabzeichen in Gold

[ObKrieger]

Hi guys,

Can I please get your opinions on this wound badge?

Thanks,
Mo

[Walkwolf]

It is a good zinc type.........

[Wagriff]

A nice original badge with 60% of it's original gilt plating. The trouble is, though, that the zink is eating the gold and, as far as I know, there's no way to prevent it. And is that a tiny bit of zink pest growing in the indents on the right hand side of the wreath on the obverse from 2 to 5 o clock? William

[ObKrieger]

Thanks for the input guys, but I'm not sure exactly what zinc pest is. I see what you are talking about, though. Can this be taken care of?

[Wagriff]

Zink pest is oxidation corrosion and the actual metal itself is being literally eaten away. Over time, the entire award can be badly affected. Some people put vaseline over it to "stabilize it", but it will not remove it, per se. Here is a recent thread asking about it:
Does my Infanterie Sturmabzeichen have the dreaded zinc pest?
William

[ObKrieger]

Alright, well I requested a close-up shot of the spot that appears to have it. If I were to buy this badge, would it be possible for me to simply scrape that part out, thus getting rid of the zinc pest? I would hate to deliberately damage an original item, but if it would save the badge from complete destruction then I would make the exception.

[Adrian]

would it be possible for me to simply scrape that part out, thus getting rid of the zinc pest?

No. Never try and scrape zinc pest away, it is not a surface corrosion, it is within the base metal and any scraping to remove it will result in a hole and ruined badge. The vaseline idea seems to work and I believe if you bought this badge and used vaseline on this small patch you shouldn't see much more deterioration in your lifetime. Don't forget, it's taken 70ish years to reach this point already.
As William has said, the zinc is starting to absorb the finish but not too badly. Most of the wear is to the high points on the badge where it will get rubbed off and damaged first. So, although the finish on the back is starting to disappear, the front is showing mainly natural wear and tear - again, it's taken 70ish years to lose that much, with proper care you should be able to keep it in the current state of preservation.

[Glenn66]

i wouldn't scrape anything, just add a dab of vaseline. What i've done is heat up some vaseline in a teaspoon on the stove until it melts then quickly using a modelling paintbrush I dab the affected area with the liquid vaseline, it then solidifies and doesn't make a mess like if you just dabbed on some vaseline in its paste form.

nice badge if you can get it for the right price BTW.

[gerrit]

Thx guys for the lessons, Mo its a nice badge!

[ObKrieger]

Thanks guys! I will definitely be buying it then. I can probably get it for around $50.

By the way, thanks for the name change. I try to keep my thread titles kosher but I forget every once in a while.