Do metals wear differently in storage???

[nbushyager]

Hi everyone,

I was at a gunshow yesterday and looking at an EK2 on the ribbon that a guy had for sale. The ring was marked with a 3. The front metal edges look to have the correct aging, but when I flipped it over, the back metal edges seemed much shiner and not as old. The guy asked me what I though and when I said this he said "the metal ages differently because of how it was displayed". In essence, the back of the metal is shinier because it wasn't as exposed. Is this BS? I am always over cautious and didn't buy it. He was asking $150.

Sorry I don't have pictures.. I should have taken some.

P.S. he had it marked as an EK1

[Rakkasan187]

The medal will show affects of discoloration due to exposure to light over time. Natural light such as sunlight and man made fluorescent lights, halogen bulbs, etc can have serious effects on the fading of all artifacts over time. You can also tell if the ribbon on the front was lighter than the ribbon on the back, and thus more than likely the artifact had been stored and not "rotated" or removed from the present front side showing. Storage of artifacts based on temperature and humidity may also discolor and fade items after many years. If said decoration was stored in a plastic case for example, there is a process called "off gassing" where the plastic will start to become worn and an off gassing will result. If the decoration is stored in a plastic type container with no ventilation the off gas product cannot vent and will settle on the medal and ribbon. This process can be accelerated with different temperature environments such as, high dry heat with no humidity, high humid temperatures where moisture can develop, and other factors. Dehumidifiers and other artifact preservation equipment can be used to slow or stop the process. It is also important to rotate objects on display to let them "breathe" so to speak.

Sorry about the long winded answer, but knowledge is power when it comes to proper preservation of artifacts.

Smitty

[nbushyager]

Thanks Rakkasan. Great info and thanks for the detailed explanation. I will use them for the collection that I inherited.

[CBH]

Thank you for the detailed reply , never consider an answer longwinded . The more information you provide the better .

[37Webbing]

If you have some time on your hands, I can wholeheartedly recommend what exist online from the hands of the Canadian Conservation Institute.
I have used their other entries on conservation and care of cloth (wool and linen) and leather.

Metals:
Storage of Metals - Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) Notes 9/2 - Canada.ca

A sitemap of the different "notes" on conservation, and care for collections:
Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) Notes - Canada.ca