I found this medal today at the Wilmington, Delaware Coin Club show. The medal was given to German women who turned in gold jewelry for the war effort(1916). The obverse states " Gold I give for weapons, Iron I accept for honor". The problem at hand is rust. I have coated and rubbed it with wd-40 so far. Any other ideas or thoughts?
Do not rub it anymore!!!!!! Spray it very heavy with WD 40 let it stay on it til rust is gone. It may take a few days keep adding WD 40 don't let it dry til rust is gone. Then dip it in acetone.
Unfortunately rust will continue to spread no matter what you do. The only ways or removing the rust will be very destructive of the medal. I'm not really recommending this, but you may need to whizz it then wax it to stop the rust completely.
I have heard the "whizz it" expression, but what exactly is it? I did also think about wax to halt further corrosion.
Whizzing is essentially using a fine wire wheel on a coin. Consider the method a last resort if at all.
I like the toothpaste idea. A very mild abrasive. This is not a valuable medal. I just want to keep it legible and avoid further corrosion. I have it soaking in wd-40 right now. In a few days I will reevaluate it. Thanks
Stop at this stage, WD-40 is enough. No rubbing, no wax (yet) and no toothpaste (it's abrasive and can scratch the surfaces)... I suggest you register with Collectors Society forum and post the medal image and questions about if they can help you stop the rust in the Ask NCS board to get an experts opinions, but know that they take a while to get back to questions and may require you to send the piece in for review before offering advice whether they can do anything for you. NCS' website
@NormW Let an expert, try electrolysis on it. Do you even happen to have such a device laying around.
Well, I just checked the medal after 5 days, soaking in W-D40 and I do not see much difference. Any comments?
Here's the MSDS sheet for Oxalic acid. It's stronger than acetic acid and can cause serious skin irritation if not handled properly and allowed to make prolonged contact with your skin. It's a kind of reducing agent. I still suggest the OP contact a professional for best results. Don't fool around with chemicals and home brew methods if you don't know what you're doing.
Well I figured it may have been in jest/disbelief coming from someone like you who has experimented with some pretty harsh chemicals. I assume oxalic acid would simply be too corrosive to the medal itself to do it any good.
I've had luck with it in low concentrations removing corrosion and rust. Mostly on military items which are usually steel.