Conserving a Chief?
Veep
Posts: 1,459 ✭✭✭✭
Is there any way to improve the look of this without causing serious harm? It smells really
musty so maybe the stains are mildew. I haven’t tried anything in favor of asking the experts here. The stains go through the paper front to back so maybe it just is what it is. Thanks!
"Let me tell ya Bud, you can buy junk anytime!"
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You could try Poli Restorations at http://www.polirestorations.com
They are a mother daughter team that have an excellent reputation
from what I understand. Never had any reason to use them personally.
if you do keep us posted with the results. would love to see both sides
Ive seen their work and they do an amazing job. However, it isnt cheap, and depending on how busy they are, it can take a long time.
Thanks. It’s good to know about that service. This is not a rare enough note to justify top-level (pricy) restoration. I’m thinking more along the lines of a do it yourself fix.
I’ll hold onto that Poli link for something that stands to gain more from their work.
Unless you have the experience, I would leave the note as is. You could easily make it worse or destroy it.
I know Poli restorations does a good job.
I agree with this statement. For the note in question, I'm not sure the juice is worth the squeeze as it wouldn't surprise me if their cost was a few hundred to improve the appearance.
my go-to on “dirty’ notes like that:
1- immerse it in distilled water in a clean jar with a tight kid.
2- after a day or so, give it a few shakes so the water sloshes around. If you see any sign of dirty water or particles that have come off the note, pour the water out, give the note a gentle water rinse and repeat the immersion with fresh distilled water.
If you don’t see any results, while the note is wet, gently roll a Q-Tip on the brown areas and see if that dirties the Q-tip. If so, continue CAREFULLY & GENTLY, as old paper currency is fragile.
My experience is that often no amount of soaking will help, but it’s a harmless way to find out.
30+ years coin shop experience (ret.) Coins, bullion, currency, scrap & interesting folks. Loved every minute!
I may just give this a try. If so, I’ll post the before/after.
Gave the above approach a try. The first “rinse” may have lightened the stains a bit so I tried it again with no improvement. I’m not posting an “after” pic since there’s really slight to no discernible difference.
Oh well, it was worth a try and would try it again in another circumstance.
was worth a shot, anyway. Your note somewhat looks like it was in a damp dirty environment for some length of time.
More often, dirt on large notes is on the righthand border, from tellers fingering a stack of notes while counting.
30+ years coin shop experience (ret.) Coins, bullion, currency, scrap & interesting folks. Loved every minute!