Viking Trade Weight

[Silver Searcher]

Hello everybody my friend found this Viking Trade Weight it has a Guilded triqueta pendant inlaid in lead. As you can see some of the Guilding has corrosion build up, heavy in places.
As this is not my find I thought I would ask for some opinions on wether it should be cleaned or left I know that sometimes the Guilding can be under the corrosion, but as it's a quite rare find the question remains should it be tryed or left alone

SS

 

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[shaun7]

You'd be a brave man to try

Lovely find though

What about some kettle descaler

 

[lastleg]

It definitely could be cleaned, I couldn't bear to leave it like that.

 

[Iron Patch]

A soak in peroxide with a little brushing would do it with very little chance of harming it. As the stuff gets loose you could use a toothpick for some of the larger pieces but I'd let the hp do most of the work. I think it's fairly clear what would be expected for gilt, so for me it would be just a matter of wanting the crud gone. Peroxide cleans much slower than most other choices so you can watch the progress and quit anytime.

Personally I would clean it and not even think twice.

 

[Silver Searcher]

A soak in peroxide with a little brushing would do it with very little chance of harming it. As the stuff gets loose you could use a toothpick for some of the larger pieces but I'd let the hp do most of the work. I think it's fairly clear what would be expected for gilt, so for me it would be just a matter of wanting the crud gone. Peroxide cleans much slower than most other choices so you can watch the progress and quit anytime.

Personally I would clean it and not even think twice.

Right thanks IP, I will suggest the peroxide, I thought that might be the way to go..but wanted more advice

SS

 

[Iron Patch]

A soak in peroxide with a little brushing would do it with very little chance of harming it. As the stuff gets loose you could use a toothpick for some of the larger pieces but I'd let the hp do most of the work. I think it's fairly clear what would be expected for gilt, so for me it would be just a matter of wanting the crud gone. Peroxide cleans much slower than most other choices so you can watch the progress and quit anytime.

Personally I would clean it and not even think twice.

Right thanks IP, I will suggest the peroxide, I thought that might be the way to go..but wanted more advice

SS

It's definitely the safest way. Better to take a little longer and eliminate most of the risk.

 

[Tom_Restorer]

hi,

this is a real rare find and I woud not use any chemicals on gilded pieces! (this forum seems to be full of wrong chemical technics...)

Try to clean it carefully under a microscope with a scalpel !
This small malachit encrustions are not so hard as they look and easy to remove.
If you are afraid to make scratches with a new scalpel, you can make the blade a little bit blunt with fine sand paper.

Look at the picture. This pieces was cleaned only with a scalpel in approx 30 minutes.

Tom

 

[Iron Patch]

hi,

this is a real rare find and I woud not use any chemicals on gilded pieces! (this forum seems to be full of wrong chemical technics...)

Try to clean it carefully under a microscope with a scalpel !
This small malachit encrustions are not so hard as they look and easy to remove.
If you are afraid to make scratches with a new scalpel, you can make the blade a little bit blunt with fine sand paper.

Look at the picture. This pieces was cleaned only with a scalpel in approx 30 minutes.

Tom

Well look at this picture, it wasn't cleaned with a scalpel, and is also a rare find. I'll let the picture speak to your comment of wrong techniques.

 

[Silver Searcher]

Well I didn't get to find out which would have been the best, if any my friend sold the piece not long after...well give it away really, I would have give him more than the dealer did who trebled his money

SS

 

[romeo-1]

hi,

this is a real rare find and I woud not use any chemicals on gilded pieces! (this forum seems to be full of wrong chemical technics...)

Try to clean it carefully under a microscope with a scalpel !
This small malachit encrustions are not so hard as they look and easy to remove.
If you are afraid to make scratches with a new scalpel, you can make the blade a little bit blunt with fine sand paper.

Look at the picture. This pieces was cleaned only with a scalpel in approx 30 minutes.

Tom

Well look at this picture, it wasn't cleaned with a scalpel, and is also a rare find. I'll let the picture speak to your comment of wrong techniques.

LOL...OWNED!!!

 

[Tom_Restorer]

hi,

this is a real rare find and I woud not use any chemicals on gilded pieces! (this forum seems to be full of wrong chemical technics...)

Try to clean it carefully under a microscope with a scalpel !
This small malachit encrustions are not so hard as they look and easy to remove.
If you are afraid to make scratches with a new scalpel, you can make the blade a little bit blunt with fine sand paper.

Look at the picture. This pieces was cleaned only with a scalpel in approx 30 minutes.

Tom

Well look at this picture, it wasn't cleaned with a scalpel, and is also a rare find. I'll let the picture speak to your comment of wrong techniques.

yes, the picture speaks. I see enough shining copper parts around the legend. The gilded parts are cleean but the patina on the copper is gone or changed dark from chemical effect and i would bet that the gilded parts lies much higher than the remaing copper without the patina. May you be lucky with this result (on such a jung token or coin) but on an 1000 years older piece I wouldn´t try it and a much better result is only to get mechanical.

PS: with chemical cleaning and a little bit unluck, you destroy the cuprit layers under the gilded parts (wich hold it on the piece) and the gold get lost.
You can get the same effect as when you but a gildet piece in a supra sonic bath.

Tom

 

[Iron Patch]

hi,

this is a real rare find and I woud not use any chemicals on gilded pieces! (this forum seems to be full of wrong chemical technics...)

Try to clean it carefully under a microscope with a scalpel !
This small malachit encrustions are not so hard as they look and easy to remove.
If you are afraid to make scratches with a new scalpel, you can make the blade a little bit blunt with fine sand paper.

Look at the picture. This pieces was cleaned only with a scalpel in approx 30 minutes.

Tom

Well look at this picture, it wasn't cleaned with a scalpel, and is also a rare find. I'll let the picture speak to your comment of wrong techniques.

yes, the picture speaks. I see enough shining copper parts around the legend. The gilded parts are cleean but the patina on the copper is gone or changed dark from chemical effect and i would bet that the gilded parts lies much higher than the remaing copper without the patina. May you be lucky with this result (on such a jung token or coin) but on an 1000 years older piece I wouldn´t try it and a much better result is only to get mechanical.

PS: with chemical cleaning and a little bit unluck, you destroy the cuprit layers under the gilded parts (wich hold it on the piece) and the gold get lost.
You can get the same effect as when you but a gildet piece in a supra sonic bath.

Tom

So you think you could have done as well with a scalpel?

 

[Tom_Restorer]

yup!

have done it several times - thats my job

 

[Iron Patch]

yup!

have done it several times - thats my job

But you don't have pictures right?

PS... Not that I'm saying your methods are wrong because I have seen an incredible transformation using that method on a button that had a coating of very hard grit. Having said that, the person who cleaned it I don't think would have used it on my button.