Cleaning old military buttons?

ChrisnAmanda1

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I have a couple buttons I dug up and was wondering what's the best Way to clean them? I used a toothbrush to clean up some of the loose dirt but is there a way to bring back the natural shine to them? Thanks
 
Im not sure about getting back natural shine....however on brass buttons I use a moist Q-tip and get off most surface dirt. For example...Ill leave this one the way it is for now and use remaining dirt to highlight detail
 

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There’s all kinds of ways to ruin them but cleaning there’s a few depending if there is gilt still on them and etc

Let’s see pictures of them as they are now
 
Cleaning a Gilded 1850's Button

I use a very soft brush with warm water and very small amount of dishwashing liquid and gently wash them. I've attached a circa 1850's civilian button I recently found.
 

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Welll……..depends on how far you want to go with it. I use acid and abrasive scratch pads and anything else that will ruin a good relic :D

For a couple buttons I've used very fine sandpaper to shine up the high points. The buttons shown here were cool, but to see them you had to really look closely; the looked like just a black button and a green button in my display cabinet. The sanding made them identifiable without sidelight and magnification and all that.

The convex Eagle (A) button was almost unrecognizable without serious sidelight, and then really only one of the wings was visible. After my sanding I can clearly see the whole eagle and even read the backmark. I am happy with how it turned out (not the greatest lighting for a picture). Others might be disgusted with such aggressive cleaning.
 

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