Old mirror. German marking copper. ??

This old mirror was in my grandparents house. I was thinking of trying to clean it up and see if it looks any less hideous with a little polishing but I figured I better at least try and find some info on it first.
The only marking I can see is "Kupferbelag?" written on the back of the mirror itself which translates to "copper covering" in German according to google translate.

That's all I've been able to figure out so far. Any help would be appreciated. I'd like to be sure its ok to clean and polish.

 

Id guess 1950s or so. I think its awesome.I bet you could gently disassemble it,clean and reassemble and it would look fabulous.

 

See no harm in cleaning this. Think 50s is spot-on.

 

Hi,
I agree with Johnny and Brad.
greg

 

Thanks. I've never tried to clean copper before. I guess I should probably try and get the paint off the inner border as it looks like that was done later. The outer border is bare copper but its pretty discolored and marked up in places.

The mirror itself has some nasty dark spots but I don't imagine there's any way to make that look better other then getting the whole thing resilvered.

 

That’s hypposterical!!!!!

 

You're not cleaning copper. You can only clean the glass. Don't spray cleaner directly onto glass; apply it to whatever you're using to clean so the liquid doesn't get out of control.

I've read that silver isn't used on modern mirror, but it was in the past, and given the opportunity, silver will tarnish. That's what black edge is about.

When silver was used, some commercial process followed the silver application with a coating of copper. This has to do with a metallurgical phenomenon called "the nobility of metals". Silver is more noble than copper, which means that when the two come into contact in an oxidizing situation, the copper will "sacrifice" itself to preserve the silver.

You won't see the copper. It's applied to the back of the mirror under the paint - a layer between the silver and the paint. It enhances the durability of the silver - keeps it brighter, longer.

The same principle applies to galvanized metal where a zinc coating will deteriorate before the underlying steel starts to rust, or on something like a chromed steel bumper where the steel will rust while the chrome plating stays relatively intact.

 

Looks original to me.

 

There is paint slopped on the back of the copper wreath. It was most likely painted by my grandmother. I don't know if she painted the inner leaf and the frame because they were already painted and needed a touch up or if that inner leaf/wreath was bare copper like the outer one originally.

I used a little lemon juice and salt on the back of it but it didn't seem to do much.

 

It's difficult to tell (for me) whats original and whats been painted. I'm not crazy about the color either way but maybe you're right verybrad. The paint does look original...... I think? But if it is then why is there paint slopped all over it? lol.
I'm pretty colorblind which makes this that much harder but the paint splotches look the same color.
I'm stumped.
Here are some closeups.

 

Think the inner wreath original paint. The paint slopped on the outer wreath is probably wall paint. It does seem close in color to the original. You might be able to chip it off with a fingernail or plastic scraper.