How to display and preserve medals correctly?

[ZeraAmalek]

I want to start collecting medals for a long long time. However, I always read horror stories about valueable medals being ruined and tranished as a result of humidity and incorrect storage of the medals. Is there a way to prevent it? I was thinking about putting the medals in a shadow box and storing it away from any source of light inside my closet. I live in a fairly humid country at some parts of the year and I am afraid that the humidity will destroy the medals eventually.

[Rakkasan187]

There should be no reason not to collect medals just based on your geographic location and the humidity. There are many things that you can do to conserve and preserve medals even in humid environs. Storing them flat in Riker cases is a preferred method but others like to hang the Riker cases on the wall. This is alright but over time the weight of the medal planchet will cause stress on the ribbon and ultimately lead to separation of the ribbon from the medal. This will take many years but other underlying factors could expedite the deterioration process. One of the worst is very dry and arid temperatures which tends to dry items out. I live in the Southwest Desert region the US and it is very hot with very little to no humidity in our region so care and inspection of artifacts and items must be conducted on a regular basis..

Now in your case you may want to consider purchasing silica packets which will wick the moisture away and protect your metal objects, also a fine coating of Renaissance wax on the medal itself (not the cloth ribbon) will also protect your decorations. Some decorations will come in their own award boxes and cases which is also a good way of storing medals... BUT a word of advice... some medals are shipped and boxed with a small piece of foam in order to keep them from moving around in the medal case,, I would recommend once you receive your medal if foam is in the case to remove it. Foam after a while will breakdown and off-gas which could damage the medals..

You are asking some very good questions in regards to conservation and preservation but as long as you are not leaving the artifacts out in the open (and by that I mean in direct sunlight and other elements) then you should have no worries and you should feel comfortable in collecting whatever you want, helmets, medals, paper documents, textiles,, just as long as you take some precautions in regards to handling and storing you will be fine...

Hope this helps,,

Happy Collecting, stay safe,,

Best regards

Smitty

[HARRY THE MOLE]

There is a safe way of displaying awards on the wall without damaging ribbons, and I have used it for many years. All my WW1 gallantry groups are in their original frames and hung on the wall, and no harm has come to any of them. I usually take the medals - complete with backing board and certificate - out of the frame, and then I carefully pass through the board some very fine copper wire and take it around the medal suspension loop and back through the board and tie in a knot. This removes all the weight put on the ribbon which is supporting the medal, and the end result is almost invisible. Depending on the type of medal, I also sometimes put a coating of clear nail varnish on the medals to stop them from tarnishing. I know some collectors would be horrified by this method, but believe me... it does not damage them, and it is easily removed. But I only do this on nickel or silver medals that have no enamel. If you do opt to hang the frames on the wall, you should avoid hanging them where sunlight will fall on them. A couple of pictures of two of my award groupings.

Cheers,
Steve

[ZeraAmalek]

There should be no reason not to collect medals just based on your geographic location and the humidity. There are many things that you can do to conserve and preserve medals even in humid environs. Storing them flat in Riker cases is a preferred method but others like to hang the Riker cases on the wall. This is alright but over time the weight of the medal planchet will cause stress on the ribbon and ultimately lead to separation of the ribbon from the medal. This will take many years but other underlying factors could expedite the deterioration process. One of the worst is very dry and arid temperatures which tends to dry items out. I live in the Southwest Desert region the US and it is very hot with very little to no humidity in our region so care and inspection of artifacts and items must be conducted on a regular basis..

Now in your case you may want to consider purchasing silica packets which will wick the moisture away and protect your metal objects, also a fine coating of Renaissance wax on the medal itself (not the cloth ribbon) will also protect your decorations. Some decorations will come in their own award boxes and cases which is also a god way of storing medals... BUT a word of advice... some medals are shipped and boxed with a small piece of foam in order to keep them from moving around in the medal case,, I would recommend once you receive your medal if foam is in the case to remove it. Foam after a while will breakdown and off-gas which could damage the medals..

You are asking some very good questions in regards to conservation and preservation but as long as you are not leaving the artifacts out in the open (and by that I mean in direct sunlight and other elements) then you should have no worries and you should feel comfortable in collecting whatever you want, helmets, medals, paper documents, textiles,, just as long as you take some precautions in regards to handling and storing you will be fine...

Hope this helps,,

Happy Collecting, stay safe,,

Best regards

Smitty

I've heard about renaissance wax, and I've read a plenty amount of renwax related threads here. as it seems, many people like the product, and almost all of them have nothing bad to say about it. however, some collectors say that covering the medals in wax will devalue them and ruin their fragile patina. I do want to buy renaissance wax though, but only intentionally to preserve the ancient artifacts that I own.

I don't want to hang the medals, I think that letting them to rest inside the box is the best method to treat them.

Should I just put the silica gel bags inside the box with the medals? I was thinking about buying a small dehumidifier to put inside my closet. The only thing that I don't like about it is that I need to replace the silica gel bags with new ones once a few months, but that's a minor disadvantage.

Thank you for your well detailed reply, you surely helped me.

[MAP]

Agree. If there is a ribbon, please don't hang the awards by them. Only the suspension ring.

[Rakkasan187]

You can place the silica bags in with the medal, check them and rotate them every few months...

Smitty

[ZeraAmalek]

There is a safe way of displaying awards on the wall without damaging ribbons, and I have used it for many years. All my WW1 gallantry groups are in their original frames and hung on the wall, and no harm has come to any of them. I usually take the medals - complete with backing board and certificate - out of the frame, and then I carefully pass through the board some very fine copper wire and take it around the medal suspension loop and back through the board and tie in a knot. This removes all the weight put on the ribbon which is supporting the medal, and the end result is almost invisible. Depending on the type of medal, I also sometimes put a coating of clear nail varnish on the medals to stop them from tarnishing. I know some collectors would be horrified by this method, but believe me... it does not damage them, and it is easily removed. But I only doe this on nickel or silver medals that have no enamel. If you do opt to hang the frames on the wall, you should avoid hanging them where sunlight will fall on them. A couple of pictures of two of my award groupings.

Cheers,
Steve

Beautiful medals. I will remember your advice when the time comes. the last thing we want is to ruin our valueable collectibles by mistake. I too believe that covering the medals with wax/polish might help preserving their original luster, although I don't think I have the guts to do that with aged medals as I am afraid that I will unintentionally remove the medal's patina. the patina is an important part of the artifact's history, and I would never let myself do something that might hurt it in any way. It is possible that I'm too anxious though.

Anyways, please let me ask you a question as I'm still a beginner. what might theoretically happen to the enamel if I would cover it with polish/wax?

[ZeraAmalek]

You can place the silica bags in with the medal, check them and rotate them every few months...

Smitty

won't it ruin the whole concept of displaying the medals? I believe that you too would not like to see some silica bags around the medal when it is displayed in the box.

[ZeraAmalek]

Agree. If there is a ribbon, please don't hang the awards by them. Only the suspension ring.

Don't worry, I won't.

In most cases I will probably let them rest in the box. I don't have any plans on hanging the medals.

[BrodieBartfast]

Alternatively, when it comes to Riker cases, you can push a small pin through the suspension loop and into the foam padding. This will take the strain off the ribbons, and also keep flatter items from sliding down inside the case when it’s displayed upright.

B.B.