Should I clean this?

[ChrisinCT]

I found this Cival war era officers E Plurbis Unum sword plate last month at a 1800's house.

Just goes to show no matter how many times a place has been detected they never get it all.

This buckle was three inches down right in the middle of a small grassy area twenty feet from the house all the rest of the land is surrounded by woods.

How could who knows how many detecrorist either miss it or didn't dig because it wasn't a coin?

Certainly many being open to the public and nothing else being found in the entire yard around the entire house except really crappy iron signals.

Anyway I would like to remove the green without removing any of the patina.

Is this possible and how can I keep the green from coming back.

Should I attempt cleaning or leave it just the way it is ?

Also if anyone has any knowledge about this buckle I would love to hear it.

A friend of mine has a friend that is big into Civil war relics and tried to match it to those in a book he has and said while it looks very similar to others it's not quite the same as any in his book. I only got this second hand so I don't know the particulars but I guess while there are several very similar they have slight differences in them. but I really don't know.

I posted duplicate photos in hopes one might be sharper than others . The IPad is not good for taking picture s for posting.

[Sal66]

CHRIS, I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND, I COPIED AND RE-SIZED THE PICS FOR YOU. IF YOU NEED ANY TIPS ON POSTING PICS LET ME KNOW. I HAVE FINALLY MASTERED PICTURE TAKING 101. :happydance01:


:congrats: Nice Find !!! Looks like it's a 1851 Plate . I would try relicman.com. That guy has all the patterns. You should find that one there.
About the Cleaning, I say NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!
That's the worst thing you can do with a Relic like that. I wouldn't do a thing except Protect it from Corrosion if anything. Did you see the product I Posted about? That's the only thing I would do. Collector's will tell you the same thing, don't clean it. The Patina is what they want to see, not a shiny new looking relic. It de- valuates the Relics Value to almost nothing. Trust me on this one. :shocked04:verreaction: That's what you'll be saying if you do clean it. Those plates run at least a few hundred dollars if not more depending on the Pattern.

[del]

hey Chris nice plate , while it looks very similar to the 1851 styles ( motif-wise) its infact a post Civil War type , a regulation pattern that was restarted from 1874 to 1920 . the construction of the large tongue and thin bar placement on opposite side is the give away . its a very nice post war example congrats on the find .

this is just a suggestion , if it were mine and knowing its not of the Civil War era i would clean it for my collection yours still looks as though it has a lot of gold gilting or plating on it and i would use diluted CLR and water with a toothbrush to really make the gold pop out. but thats me .

heres a picture of the 1851 type Chris , notice how the tongue is some what close but the long belt loop is at the very end and different that yours .

Dan

[Sal66]

Dan, Thanks for thehelp . I knew you would come along and figure it out. The other end where the slot usually is had me wondering. The 1851 styles don't have a BAR like his and that's where I was stumped. Do you have his Belt Plate in your book ? I know the Civil War 1851 style's are worth quite a bit. Chris, was this plate being protected by something? It appears that way because of the strong brass finish that's still visible.

This is just my Opinion, If you do clean it, then there's no going back. What I'm trying to say is if you later down the road decide to sell it and it's been cleaned, then collector's will be less likely to buy it. Think about it. Would you buy a Cleaned Coin that's very Old and Historical or one that's Naturally Aged ? The Naturally aged one will be worth more also. I would just protect it from corrosion. It looks great the way it is, I feel. It's the same thing with old Guns. They say never clean the Patina off the Metal. The value drops a real lot.

I think historically it looks better the way it is. It's up to you in the end, but I would think about it first. Did you check out that relicman.com website ? None of his are cleaned and their selling for alot. I don't see one thing wrong with it, does anyone else ?
I know, it's a hard decision , when I first detected I wanted to clean everything and make them all nice and then I realized after messing up several Coins and Relics , it's just not worth the chance. The most I would do is get any dirt, if there is any, from the details on the front like the lettering .
I hope I confused you. Sorry :thinkingabout:
Sal

[lee]

hey Chris nice plate , while it looks very similar to the 1851 styles ( motif-wise) its infact a post Civil War type , a regulation pattern that was restarted from 1874 to 1920 . the construction of the large tongue and thin bar placement on opposite side is the give away . its a very nice post war example congrats on the find .

this is just a suggestion , if it were mine and knowing its not of the Civil War era i would clean it for my collection yours still looks as though it has a lot of gold gilting or plating on it and i would use diluted CLR and water with a toothbrush to really make the gold pop out. but thats me .

heres a picture of the 1851 type Chris , notice how the tongue is some what close but the long belt loop is at the very end and different that yours .

Dan



Dan, thanks for the input. The other end where the slot usually is had me wondering. The 1851 styles don't have a BAR like his and that's where i was stumped.
This is just my Opinion, If you do clean it, then there's no going back. What I'm trying to say is if you later down the road decide to sell it and it's been cleaned, then collector's will be less likely to buy it. Think about it. Would you buy a Cleaned Coin or one that Naturally Aged ? The Naturally aged one will be worth more also. I would just protect it from corrosion. It looks great the way it is, I feel. It's the same thing with old Guns. They say never clean the Metal. The value drops a real lot.
I think historically it looks better the way it is. It's up to you in the end, but I would think about it first. Did you check out that relicman.com website ? None of his are cleaned and their selling for alot.
I know, it's a hard decision , when I first detected I wanted to clean everything and make them all nice and then I realized after messing up several Coins, it's just not worth the chance.
I hope I confused you. Sorry :thinkingabout:
Sal

you guys are such nerds but i would have you no other way....thank god your both here............................................NE RDS !!!!!!!

[Sal66]

:eyebrow: WHAT YOU TALKING ABOUT WILLIS ? rofl rofl rofl rofl

Anyway, Chris see this Brass Relic I found. If I tried to make it all shiny brass again then I would be removing the Toning of the Brass and you might end up removing all the brass which will only reveal whatever metal that is the core of the Plate which might be Copper. Then again, if it's solid Brass you might be okay.
You will have to ask Dan if these plates are Solid Brass or a Guilt over Copper.

[ChrisinCT]

I never wanted to polish it I only want to clean up the green corrosion and stop it from coming back.

Thanks for all the info guys.

I did look on the relic man site and while I see some similar none are the same.

[Sal66]

I really don't see any Patina. In fact, the Buckle looks like its been protected by something above it. Like it was in a barn or something and then they tore it down. I haven't seen a buckle with so much bright brass still showing. As far as protecting it from getting Patina or to prevent it from Corrosion, that Wax I talked about will do what you want. It will both protect it from Oxidizing and stop any corrosion from happening. Since I have only used the Wax on Copper, I would ask an expert like, well, Dan what he would do with it. He's worked with more brass Items than I have. I personally think an expert will tell you to just keep it protected and that's all.
:congrats: AGAIN !
SAL

[ChrisinCT]

The spot I found it did at one time have a shed or something around it. There wer still foundation stones on two sides of it but for how long its been gone I haven't a clue.

The corrosion doesn't show in the picture but the darker black areas is actually green.

I'm going to pick up some of the wax you suggested. thanks for that tidbit

[HEAVYMETALNUT]

awesome find Chris.here's a civil war plate i dug.see the back (difference) with a # stamped in called a bench mark

[swamp yankee]

I found this Cival war era officers E Plurbis Unum sword plate last month at a 1800's house.

Just goes to show no matter how many times a place has been detected they never get it all.

This buckle was three inches down right in the middle of a small grassy area twenty feet from the house all the rest of the land is surrounded by woods.

How could who knows how many detecrorist either miss it or didn't dig because it wasn't a coin?

Certainly many being open to the public and nothing else being found in the entire yard around the entire house except really crappy iron signals.

Anyway I would like to remove the green without removing any of the patina.

Is this possible and how can I keep the green from coming back.

Should I attempt cleaning or leave it just the way it is ?

Also if anyone has any knowledge about this buckle I would love to hear it.

A friend of mine has a friend that is big into Civil war relics and tried to match it to those in a book he has and said while it looks very similar to others it's not quite the same as any in his book. I only got this second hand so I don't know the particulars but I guess while there are several very similar they have slight differences in them. but I really don't know.

I posted duplicate photos in hopes one might be sharper than others . The IPad is not good for taking picture s for posting.
Hi Cris ,Incredible find congrats are in order! My advice would be to Ask a nearby college Professor for a refferal to a good Conservator as you don't want to damage it. Looks like it may have had gold leaf/plating at one time and a restoration will not be too expensive.Good Job and HH.....

[Mudder]

Chris, first of all great find and congratulations. If I wanted it cleaned I would have a professional do it. Nothing worse than messing up the irreplaceable :clapping: :clapping:

[milco]

Congrats on a great find!