To Clean or Not To Clean, That Is The Question

In the world of Daguerreotype collecting, the question of whether or not to clean images is a hotly debated topic.  Most top collectors and dealers are against disturbing the image in any way other than cleaning or replacing the glass and resealing the image.  Their reasons for the most part are compelling if the image is of an historic figure or created by an famous daguerreotypist however, what of the millions of nameless images created by unknown daguerreotypists?

In my humble opinion, it all boils down to the individual choice of the collector.  I live on a fixed income, so I cannot purchase the beautifully preserved dags that are display quality and cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.  I have to try to find the best quality I can for the low price-range that I am confined to and that means images that are tarnished but have the potential to be really nice images if they are cleaned.

I like to enjoy my images, and to me that means being able to see them without the distractions of tarnish, etc.  This doesn't mean that I clean all my dags, just the ones that I feel would be improved by cleaning.  I'll post a few Before and After examples and let you be the judge.