I need some help about the material and some cleaning info about these badges I dug up.

[antymattar]

Hi! Today I was digging a trench that had to be filled with sand when I found badges buried under the soil. These are all Black Wounds(Except for one which is a General Assault badge). Sadly they are in bad quality. The pot that was holding them had broken and they had been exposed to rain water and other bad things. There are 24 badges in all:




Sorry if the images are a bit bad. My camera is not that super.

I was wandering what material they are made out of and what would their worth be? Also, could anybody please tell me how to clean them so that they look somewhat good? Thanks!

[Snni]

I would say warm water and a little soap. But not sure.
That is some very nice relics. Where did you find them? Near a battlefield?
I love them!

[Woolgar]

An amazing find

Same question where did you find them?

Nick

[antymattar]

AMAZING RELICS!? Sweet!!!

I found them in my yard. Our house used to be occupied by Germans during the war. These were about 2 or 3 feet under the ground in our garden. I was supposed to dig out a big hole or something so that I can fill it with sand for a new swing. I was digging and came across these and some pottery shards. I will definitely keep some as relics but... hehe... I might try and sell the rest to some museum or collector. Though they are damaged...

BTW. The war here in Latvia ended 5 km away from our house.

@snni: I tried not just soap but fairy,vanish,colgate and a hell load of other stuff.

Also, any idea what they are made out of? Thanks! Varis(that's my real name).

Ps:They are all from the same material.

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

^ Good finds. Wound badges generally are common.

[davejb]

Id be tempted to use a metal detector and dig another few holes, lord knows what youll find next

[antymattar]

Id be tempted to use a metal detector and dig another few holes, lord knows what youll find next

Give me a metal detector and I'll dig this place to kingdom come. Seriously, A few months ago we found some REALLY old coins in our flower bed. When we moved here, our attic was a war bunker(literally) it was filled with all sorts of powders and oils and contraptions(It was messy too). I would love to have a meta detector but they are too expensive.

Also, about badges baing common. I know that but don't these look like the gold badges?

[Adrian]

First of all, welcome to the forum Varis and thank you for posting your find.
I'm not entirely sure what the material of your badges are but it could be anything from zinc, brass, copper, tombac, maybe one of the wound badge collectors can shed more light on this for you. I can only guess that the GAB is a zinc example.
If you've already tried to clean them and can't get them any better then I wouldn't do too much more as they will never look like new.
There is a sub forum here which deals with the restoration and preservation of items so you might well find some advice there and it would be worth posting a link to this thread so people can see exactly what you're dealing with.
My advice would be to preserve them as they are and not try to improve them. They are a little piece of history.

[Hansi]

Nice finds Varis... what sort of "contraptions" did you find in the loft... and what happened to them? I would certainly start having a dig around in the garden... even without a metal detector it sounds as if there could be plenty more buried treasures waiting to be uncovered! Cheers... Hansi

[antymattar]

Thanks guys. The attic was filled with the stuff you use to clean wounds and all sorts of gun supplies and oils for the cleaning and fixing of weapons(sadly there were no weapons there.) IT was old and I had to throw the dusty stuff out and the scraps had to be sold.(But I did have some fun with making small bombs from old oils and powders hehe...). Actually, my dad is has a friend who might have a metal detector. I can't wait to accidentally break the pipes under the house(It's still fun.).

-Varis!-