Well I finally found something cool!!:

[beachguy777]

Ok Golden, you gotta help me on this one!:|I went to a place where they just tore down some old houses, and started hunting. Well, I only found one fairly new nickel, and a few house orniments, but I found this old medalian, ( I guess you'd call it) that was dated Oct. 8, 1896. and it it says: Midway Parade and Carnival, Topeka, KS. (which means Kansas), so I'm really jazzed, although I don't know if it's worth anything, but I'm excited because it's my first pre-1900's find. Well now comes the dumb-dumb-question part: Do I even try and clean it up as it has some "nasty" green patina on some of it or not? I know how serious that can be on coins,,,,, can I asume it's the same concern for relics??? Let me know there "baby":| I know you know about all this stuff, or anyone else for that matter. I'm just trying to learn what and what not to do.

 

[beachguy777]

Well, as kind of an adjunct to this, I live in San Diego, Ca., USA, not Topeka, Kansas, USA. I wonder how this plaque got here in San Diego. To me, this kind of stuff is what makes this crazy hobby more interesting, because there's always that question of "What gives here", where did it come from, and who owned it, etc. Anyway, I just thought I'd throw that in there. Maybe it was off of a box or something that somebody bought at the carnival in Topeka way back then. I'd love to have the history on that.:|

 

[Golden]

sounds like you found a really great relic there! I couldn't help you with any info on it, but I'm sure one of the guys here might be able to. As for cleaning it, I would use a little WD40 on it, spray it on, and gently clean it with a soft cloth, being careful to wipe the dirt off as you go. Bear in mind, the dirt can act a an abrasive, so wipe it gently. When done, rinse it in hot water, then wipe over it with a little vegie oil. Then wipe dry. The oil will help bring out the detail, protecting the medal with a coating. Hope it helps. Ang

 

[beachguy777]

Thankyou Golden, I knew you'd come through. I'll try both of those, and by the way, I believe WD40 is manufactured right here in "good old", San Diego, CA. where I live. Well.....just a little tidbit there, but I wanted to say that I've also heard Olive Oil can be good, but I'll try the vegitable oil. OK, here I go for a minute, here, but I swear I'm serious about this. What about the electrolisis method? I assume you know what I mean on that: where they do the electrode thing with a spoon in the bowel of water and it starts to pull the crud off the piece. I've used that method, which, by the way, for anyone interestd, is on the net, and it works great, except.... I've heard differing opinions on it as to whether it will DE-VALUE, a piece or not???? I've had soooooo, many coins that are so crudy, it seems like that's the only way to get it all off to read the date even, but....if it brings the value of the piece down, were on a losing streak here. What's a mother to do? (so to speak):|I watched an archeological program once that used that method on stuff from an old ship wreck, so that really got my attention, but, I'm still concerned if you go to far with it, it could devalue the piece. I think it also depends on the type of metal or piece your dealing with too. It may be great for some things and not for others. I know I'm being a pain in the butt here, but I really think this cleaning thing is of utmost importance, not only to protect the "value" of the piece, but also the beauty and readability of it. I'm open to any responce here, and thankyou Golden, for your response, and I'll definitly try the WD and the Veggie oil. That ought to make it much better, and maybe do the job completely.

 

[raptro5618]

I mostly use the electric trick on cleaning coins. All clads so value is no issue. It is quick and easy. I use an old battery charger and a small plastic bucket. Takes but a minute for even the worst coins and a quick swipe with a brass brush and they are all shiny again.

I think that doing this on a coin of value is an absolute no no. But this method works great on some of the other things I found that were really a mess. Again I assume they are of no value. I have no idea if doing this to your find would increase or decrease the value but a little time on google should get you an answer.

 

[beachguy777]

Thanks, Raprtro. I'm starting to think, as you say here, that it's probably "pretty risky" do do the "Frankenstein thing" on anything of value. I'm still frustrated about that, because even the more valuable wheat backs that I find, sometimes are rally crudy, but what can you do to fix that? I'm thinking that this is a potentially "real problem" when it comes to "really crudy, coated, coins, that are potentially valuable and you don't want to ruin the value, but they're so full of crud, you can't even read the date. Boy, what a problem. Well, I guess I need to keep on doing research as far as "what's really safe to do to really crapped out coins or relics", that won't come clean, but we don't want to destroy the value. Thanks, honestly, though, Raptro, for your response. I'll take that to heart and be careful. Let me know if you know of a way to clean really bad, valuable coins, if you get chance and let's just keep moving on in this great hobby.

 

[beachguy777]

n/t

 

[pinpointa]

Hi Beachguy777,
Man i think you have struck it rich big time. A medalian oct.8th, 1896
thats an antique.I wouldnt waste any time i would hop on a kite and fly over to china somewhere midway go down some of those parades and you will get 1 or a 100 made for a song everything is up to date in kansas city, you have gone about as far as you can go. Then bring them back to the states and you will clean up. And make sure you keep the original.uke:
Regards Pinpointa Down Under.

 

[beachguy777]

Well I kind of lost you on that one, but I don't know if this thing is worth anything or not. I just got excited because I've never found anything that old yet. I hope it's not a forgery. It looks pretty old, and I found it where an old house used to be. Well, I'm gonna try and get a hold of Topeka Kansas on the web and see if they have any museums or historical sites, and see if I can grab any info. At least that might be fun to do. Beachguy.

 

[NV Desert Rat]

I do a bunch of research for my articles; I just happened to have this site on hand...it may help.

http://skyways.lib.ks.us/orgs/schs/aboutus/newsletters/news2005mar.html

Cheers,

Rat

p.s. I probably wouldn't do much cleaning until you can determine value; you might check out eBay for something similar. That's what I did for my old Cascarets token from the mid 1800's. It is only worth about $25.00. It is those old authentic brothel tokens that are worth quite a bit; talk about knock-offs, every gift shop in Nevada sells those things.

 

[beachguy777]

So are you saying that yours is probably one of the copies? I'd think the original ones would be worth a lot too. Very interesting stuff. Thanks for the tip and I'll check out that web site. I also just got on the net last night and typed in Topeka Kansas Historical Society, and they have one, so I might call them or email them a picture when I get my camera back. Yea, it's always the cleaning issue for me, it seems, to clean or not to clean, or how much and what technique to use to clean. What an ordeal, but I know it could be important not to mess this stuff up. How you been doing lately? Good to hear from you and hope the "treasure gods" are smiling on you. I'll post any info on the forum if I find out anything intersting about this piece. Thanks again, and take care of yourself.