To polish or not to polish?

[PMK]

I am restoring an 18 foot 1930 Old Town Guide canoe that was delivered with the sailing kit. I have the original leeboards and leeboard thwart. I am debating whether I should remove the tarnish from the brass hardware for the leeboard thwart. The canoe was used in salt water until about 20 years ago. I should note that the mast seat needed to be rebuilt and has a nice new bright brass ring at the partner hole. Opinions?

 

[Dave Osborn]

I polish all brass, screws, stem bands, and hardware.
I bought a buffer from Harbor Freight that does a great job.

 

[JClearwater]

If you are or have already restored the canoe back to perfect then the hardware should be too. That's what I do.

 

[MGC]

This is clearly a matter of personal preference. I agree that shining the hardware should be done but I do not like to see highly polished maker/builders tags.
I prefer to see the tags cleaned, but not polished. I feel the same way about Morris or Veazie tags. I like to see the 100 plus year of patina.
I also do not like to see replica decals used to replace the originals. I would prefer to see an old, faded decal with its flaws from surviving one hundred plus years than one that just came off of someone's high tech. printer. And even more so if the replica is not accurate.