Dick Johnson submitted this entry from his Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Terminology. Thanks. -Editor
Repair and Restoration. If a medallic item is not too severely damaged it can be reworked and brought back to an
acceptable state or condition. Physical damage – scratches, dents, nicks, pitting, blisters, fire damage, graffiti – can be restored usually by
chasing. Chemical damage – tarnish, diffusion, stains, blotches, inexpert cleaning, fugitive patinas – can be restored by refinishing. Provided in
all instances, of course, any damage on the piece to be treated is not already deteriorated beyond repair. Large edge nicks, generally, cannot be
repaired. Where a similar size nick in a field can be easily repaired by chasing (metal is drawn from surrounding surface to fill the depressed
area).
What should be restored? Coins, other than plugging a hole, cannot be restored. Perhaps this is proper. The intent of their makers
was to strike a coin without finish to circulate as a medium of exchange where abrasion due to wear is a natural proceeding. Medals on the other
hand, were not intended to circulate or wear. The intent of their makers was to create an attractive art object, to remain pristine, often with an
attractive finish, to last for a long time.
Restoring actually changes condition. A coin's condition should not be upgraded once it has worn – that was its purpose. But in the
vicissitudes of time that affects all objects, medals darken or tone, they may be dropped, or other objects dropped on them. This was not how their
creators intended them to exist; they can and should be upgraded or restored to the pristine condition their creators intended. Therefore, the only
rule of restoring and refinishing a medal is not the propriety of doing so, but that the cost is justified: the piece itself is valuable enough to
warrant the cost of the restoration work.
Restoring medals. Impaired medallic items are restored by a number of steps. These include: (1) delacquer and clean; stripping off,
removing all lacquer and dirt and degreasing where necessary; (2) reverse plating; removing any plated metal if present; (3) determining the base
metal (the experienced chaser can do this by observing color and testing hardness), and by determining what can and cannot be done in any restoration
work; (4) repairing by plugging offensive holes, if any; (5) chasing work, the smoothing of dents, nicks or scratches, removal of unwanted graffiti;
(6) other work on the base metal such as inscribing, removal or adding loops and replating; (7) refinishing in all of its processing including
relacquering; and finally, (8) remounting if necessary, replacing ribbon, links, jump rings, chains for suspension or whatever.
Restoring dies. Some restoration work can be done on dies. Old dies generally need attention to remove rust and corrosion by chasing
– smoothing out rust pits are possible. Chasing is usually done after the die is annealed to soft state (but can be done at any hardness). Also worn
or filled lettering can be recut or re-engraved to sharpen up worn areas; rough areas can be burnished. Old dies are often found in brittle state;
they are tested for hardness. Then the die is tempered – heat treated – to withstand the pressure of striking. In all this action to improve the die,
however, one thing cannot be done – once a die starts to sink, nothing can be done to repair this damage and the sinking will continue during any
continued striking.
Don't Do It Yourself
In all restoration work experience and knowledge – of alloys, metalworking, patinas, finishing, chasing – is critical. This is not an area for the
amateur or the inexperienced. Inexperienced repair work looks worse than the original damage. Have a professional do it!
Book lovers should be word lovers as well.
Looking for the meaning of a numismatic word, or the description of a term? Try the Newman Numismatic Portal's Numismatic Dictionary at:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/dictionary
Or if you would like a printed copy of the complete Encyclopedia, it is available. There are 1,854 terms, on 678 pages, in The
Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology. Even running two a week would require more than 19 years to publish them all. If you would like an
advance draft of this vital reference work it may be obtained from the author for your check of $50 sent postpaid. Dick Johnson, 139 Thompson Drive,
Torrington, CT 06790.
THE BOOK BAZARRE
RENAISSANCE OF AMERICAN COINAGE: Wizard Coin Supply is the official distributor for Roger Burdette's three volume series that won NLG Book
of the Year awards for 2006, 2007 and 2008. Contact us for dealer or distributor pricing at www.WizardCoinSupply.com .
Wayne Homren, Editor
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