I recently bought and received a .999 silver Apollo 11 medal. The medal has some beautiful deep blue and gold toning. The seller's writeup said it should be cleaned I suspect everyone here would yell NO if I did that,
Maybe it's the photo but it looks polished. Can't say if the toning is artificial. Sounds like you are happy with it. Congrats! Lance.
I am almost positive the toning is real because the seller knows nothing about how toning can increase value. I have bought from him before, and he has shown no knowledge in this area. The shine is under the toning. I suspect it was shined at the time of striking. I see no wipe marks at all.
You should never clean it, however, if that is what you were trying to say. That can make it decrease in value, unless it is cleaned properly by a professional.
I would never clean this medal. I was afraid the seller would however. This is not the first time I have found a seller who recommends cleaning. I just find it funny that sellers who know nothing about numismatics telling buyers to do the wrong thing or posting in wrong areas.
I would leave it as is. Silver tones, and all though there are ways to try and slow down the tarnishing process, it happens.
My 2 cents Huntsville Al has a lot of NASA stuff. as we have the NASA Marshall flight center& NASA Space camp. I do see a lot of Apollo coins here in the NASA boxes& most are highly polished. I would just find a holder and put in it if you did not get the NASA box. :kewl:
This medal was made in England not here, but it does have a NASA logo. I have placed it into a decent container until I can get a good airtite holder.
