How Do You Clean a Pewter Medal?

[DC Dawg]

I have a few medals made of the traditional pewter allow (meaning it contains lead) that has horribly toned. The medal is dark and has a dirty look. Does anyone know how to "clean" a pewter medal without damaging the medal?

 

THANKS!

 

Scott

[physics-fan3.14]

Not entirely sure. It sounds like it has oxidized. Are they worth sending to NCS? Oh, and we need pictures!

[DC Dawg]

They are not worth sending to NCS. They are my club's medals. We are looking to see about "cleaning" a few to make them look better.

 

Scott

[physics-fan3.14]

I'm bored at work, so a little searching has revealed: not much. These links are basic care of pewter, but pewter jugs require much different attention than medals.

 

http://www.natmus.dk/cons/reports/2002/tinbevaring/pewter.htm

http://www.pewtersociety.org/care.html

 

I found another thing about removing lead oxide from the surface of metals, but that required radiation and a list of chemicals longer than my arm

 

This link looks cool, but probably won't help you much. http://nautarch.tamu.edu/class/anth605/File14.htm

[bsshog40]

Have you tried acetone Scott? Don't know if it will do anything.

[jgrinz]

They are not worth sending to NCS. They are my club's medals. We are looking to see about "cleaning" a few to make them look better.

 

Scott

 

Wrights Silver Creme ...

 

 

[RWB]

Scott,

I suggest a quick dip of the medals in one of the “salad dressings” available in the company “café.” You can use any of them since they are all the same except for which colored dye has been added. The acid and bacteria should easily remove lead oxide and no one will notice any change in the “salad dressing” since the transmission fluid on which they are based is more pungent than lead oxide.

 

Once you’ve removed the oxide and residue, give them a quick squirt of the motor oil they use at the grill to cook eggs and those artificial burgers. The oil will form a permanent barrier to moisture and prevent further damage.

 

[RI AL]

RWB...do I assume that you are advising Scott NOT to clean his medal?

[James_OldeTowne]

From what little I know about pewter, it can only be mechanically cleaned.

[RWB]

Ri AL - well, the stuff in the company cafe will clean out your gut, the floor, or your car's engine, so it should do somethign to the pewter....However, pewter when used for artwork - like any lead based alloy - is difficult to maintin and tough to clean.

[RI AL]

Scott, you're sure that these medals have no antique or collector value? Cleaning will certainly reduce that considerably!

I went to ehow.com and typed in "cleaning pewter". There are several recipies there that don't sound too complicated. There was even a suggestion (and this sounds pretty weird) to rub the items with cabbage leaves. Who knows...but maybe you'll find something at ehow.com that might help.

 

RI Al

[physics-fan3.14]

I like Roger's idea, and think its the most practical one we've heard yet! Haha.

[DC Dawg]

Now that I have a few moments, here's the story:

 

The medals I am talking about are cast for my local coin club with the club's logo. The logo is based on the reverse of the Maryland Tercentenary Commemorative coin. You can see the logo on our website. I do not know when the medals were cast, and the records are long gone, but time has not treated them well. They were cast in pewter and some were silver plated. I have a silver plated medal but have not had a chance take pictures. As a relief, I love the way it was done. Too bad the mold was not saved!

 

We will be celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2009. Since the medals are one-sided, we are exploring what we can do with the reverse to commemorate the anniversary. We plan to gold plate 50 medals as a commemorative. Unfortunately, the president (me) does not get a fee medal. However, for those who do not want to pay for the gold plating, we want to provide the pewter medals with the special reverse. But the pewter is badly discolored and not attractive.

 

While we will take the most "toned" medals to gold plate, we want to have some nice medals for other purposes, including giving to speakers.

 

I will look into the various suggestions including the ones provided by Roger (wise guy!) who is not a fan of the dysentery provided by the company cafeteria. Let's see what happens!

 

Scott

[ant]

i remember when i collected lil pewter dragons and such. i would make them look all shiny by scraping of the top layer. (dont know what happened to them so i dont know if they changed to ugly fast or not.)

 

might i recomend getting a few cheap lil pewter figures and test with them. you can find them anywhere models are sold or D&D or table games are sold.

[cpm9ball]

Scott, why don't you send Daniel Carr (dcarr) a PM or e-mail and ask if he has any suggestions. While you're at it, find out what he would charge for producing the anniversary medal for you.

 

Chris

[RGT]

Ri AL - well, the stuff in the company cafe will clean out your gut, the floor, or your car's engine, so it should do somethign to the pewter....However, pewter when used for artwork - like any lead based alloy - is difficult to maintin and tough to clean.

 

You need to sneak into the cafe that the "upstairs" employees get to eat at instead of the one provided for you "downstairs" folk.

[RWB]

During today’s gourmet luncheon in the building café, I was able to secure a sample of several “salad dressings” and test their metal cleaning capabilities. Unfortunately, I cannot show the results because the stuff dissolved every coin put into it….

 

“But it’s ORGANIC! …see the living things wiggling about?”