Should Dug Items Be Cleaned?

[teddy]

I've gone through different phases in regard to this question.

There was a time when I tried to make everything I dug look new again.

Today I see it differently.

Today I see every dug item as having it's own peculiar kind of beauty. It's a beauty that nature put there over the years.

A shiny Barber dime is only a shiny Barber dime. A dug and naturally toned Barber dime with that awesome radiant "Rainbow" affect tells a story of being lost for a long time and recently brought back to the light of day again. When held to the light it emits an almost never ending display of colors. It's a work of art done by nature.

I no longer strip my finds of all that aged patina. Sometimes I don't even wash the original dug dirt off the item because in a way it's part of the history of that item.

If no or almost no detail is showing, well then, yes I will do some cleaning. I may on occasion even strip the item all the way down to it's original silver, copper, or iron. But today I only do that when my chosen method of display demands it.

What do you say?

[ivan salis]

I'm of fan of cleaning enough to id or restore it to usefull shape but not over cleaning items --some folks want "shiny" like new coins --I think it robs them of the uniqness.

[teddy]

I'm of fan of cleaning enough to id or restore it to usefull shape but not over cleaning items --some folks want "shiny" like new coins --I think it robs them of the uniqness.

Agreed.

One area where I do drastic cleaning and reworking is with old toys. If I dig an old rusty toy gun, truck, etc., I'll plan to use electrolysis and even rebuild some of it.

[drywasher]

The best method that i have found for iron artifacts is to just boil the He## out of the object with just water. After it is as clean as boiling will get it , in clean boiling water i add a little bees wax and set the artifact back in to heat up and with draw slowly to get an even coat of wax.
Coins i just boil, no wax
geo

[kuger]

It makes me sick when I see someone "clean",an item such as a buckle,removing any patina and value!

[vayank54]

I agree with Kuger. I hate to see and old find all clean and shiney. When you take the patina off items, especially civil war relics, it can actually make them worth less. Like someone else said. I don't mind if there is a bit of dirt left.
Iron is a different story as that has to be cleaned to preserve it. 1911d mentioned boiling in water. Another method is one a fellow who owns a civil war museum uses and seems to work quite well. Boil the iron in oil. The rust comes off, the heat opens the pores in the metal and lets the oil in which helps preserve the iron.

[jb7487]

What kind of oil does your friend use? Are we talking cooking/edible oil or is he using some sort of petrolium product?

[Iron Patch]

Drum roll..... your answer...


It depends.

[Texasgopher]

I only clean the coins I dig and nothing else. And even with my coins it's a water rinse only. If they are in bad shape I do whatever it takes to ID the coin. In my opinion even if I find, say, a 1909 s vdb. If it was so corroded that I couldn't tell the date at all, not even a guess. Then I would clean the heck out of it. It's not worth anything to anybody, even if it turned out to be a 1909 s vdb, if you don't know what it is. Just my opinion.

TG

[Iron Patch]

Finds from the last 100 years, especially coins, tend to be a pretty easy choice whether to clean or not. It's once you get into the older stuff the decisions are tougher, and how to do it become a little more tricky. There's no two items exactly the same so every find has to ne looked at on a case by case basis. There are no general rules to cleaning, and when people post wanting advice about an item without pictures, and people reply, it's all very pointless. I am a huge fan on cleaning finds that need it, and have added a lot of value to some of my better coins and relics. Others needed very little or nothing, and they are still basically as dug.

[stefen]

Many times cleaning a relic of its patina is like refinishing an antique dresser and scraping the original finish down to clean wood...years of history has been removed...

[Iron Patch]

Many times cleaning a relic of its patina is like refinishing an antique dresser and scraping the original finish down to clean wood...years of history has been removed...

In detecting cleaning terms you clean corrosion and leave patina... corrosion being an advanced stage of patina. Relics from my dirt almost always need some form of cleaning to be as good as they can be.

PS... Cleaning doesn't necessarily mean removing the patina. Thinning it out is also cleaning, and something I do quite a bit.

[Hardy]

Pending on what your preference on the restoration and preservation of a IRON object , I like to remove ALL RUST.

PATENA IS GREAT , yet it is a form of corrosion and has to be halted and or neutralised. After cleaning all rust off of

a Iron object , I suggest using a museum quality grade of wax.

[DirtyMike]

My rule of thumb is to clean as much as I can without damaging any historical or monetary value it has. I try to remember to handle everything very carefully cause sometimes finds will turn out to be better than first expected. That goes for cleaning to. Although sometimes its the extra cleaning that will uncover a unexpected find. Its a fine line you have to walk. I try to research the safest cleaning methods for each type of item I find. As a relic hunter you come across all sorts of fragile metals. When in doubt, its better to be safe than sorry.

[Hardy]

In Regards to Cleaning Iron objects that came from a dig , Most serious collectors are looking for Iron that is Clean and free of

Rust and that is ready for the display case . I am watching Trade scissors on a well known auction site , the scissors in question

would command a far higher price if cleaned and preserved to display ready condition .

[Iron Patch]

I've only ever stripped one find and it was right down to the brass. It was a button which I think was in a fire, and no matter what I tried you could only see enough to ID it. (It was a good one) In the current state it was probably only worth $30 or $40 and that's just because someone would probably take that much risk thinking they could clean it. So after a little thinking it finally hit me that the detail of this particular button was sunk into the button and if I wiped the surface clean it would probably improve the detail. What I did was grab some type of misc. polish I had kicking around and I buffed that sucker for about two hours straight. All the crud was gone, and I was down to the brass, but like I thought I was able to get almost all the detail. It looked pretty ugly being over cleaned, but still a heck of a lot better than the dug condition, and it also raised the value quite a bit too. (Sold for $340) So the point to my story is even though 99.9 % of buffed relics I see were mistakes, you have to look at everything on a case by case basis. PS... 3 years later I found a stunning example of the same button just a few feet from where I dug the first.

[Hardy]

If I can find my damb camera , I will post a Eared Forest Axe , A 2 pounder and will record the process as for Iron goes ,

Hope I dont screw it up .

[Iron Patch]

If I can find my damb camera , I will post a Eared Forest Axe , A 2 pounder and will record the process as for Iron goes ,

Hope I dont screw it up .

If you do good maybe I'll load up my iron and ship it off for ya to do for me! One average I get one or two more relics per year and they just go in the box.

[Hardy]

Remember the Trade Scissors , well I started restoring them down to the Metal in most places , there is a fine line that I even will

not pass as I do not want to alter the shape. I do have a before pic of it. so a after shot will be posted if my camera decides to walk

back into the house and rejoin my family

[rjw4law]

soft brush with soapy water, no polishes or abrasives.