Collar patches and shoulder boards

[JERSEY 34]

These boards and collar patches came from a local museum here in Jersey. Unfortunately when they were put on display the owner had no idea of the value that such items one day would have. He glued them back to back and then glued one face to the display board. Now they have been removed and the extent of the damage can be seen. One board or patch can possibly be saved with some damage to the underside but unless someone knows of a glue remover that will not effect the cloth or silver wire I think they are unsalvagable. I bought a box of over 150 items of cloth insignia, luckily these were the only ones with real damage. My question here is are they still collectable, does anyone go for such things. I collect relic metal work but I don't know if damaged cloth like this has the same appeal. Its a real shame but I still cannot see me putting them in the bin. Its enough to make you shout when you see them in that condition. I really cannot believe anyone would do that but as you can see they did.
I will be interested to see your reactions and comments.
D.

[Wolfe1165]

I like them, even in their present condition. I believe it takes a lot of abuse for something to be deemed a lost cause. Hell, every day here we see posts of pieces that have been defaced, buried, rusted, torn, crushed, and blown up; so I'm sure there are still plenty of people willing to buy a piece that some guy glued together. If/when cleaned up they'll look decent. This is just my view, though.

John

[philliephanatic]

If something is rare it willhave value even in poor condition. It is too bad the Museum worker violated a big rule of working with artifacts. "Never do something that you can't undo later."

[BenVK]

What kind of glue is it?
If it's super glue or similar then it's more or less a lost cause because it can take days of careful restoration to remove even a small area of cyanoacrylate.
If it's water soluble glue then your in luck.
I'll willingly see what can be done if you send me a pair of the worst effected.
Cheers
Ben

[JERSEY 34]

I am not sure, but sold the lot to a friend for £100 and he got himself a long term project which he's sure to enjoy.
D.