Originally Posted by
BKratchmer
That is a GREAT day at an antique shop! Wow!
As for the etchings... if they are sunken in to the steel, you're just fine. If they are more of a surface-only acid etch I would test a small, unnoticeable portion of the etch to see if it holds. If it doesn't hold, or if it is gold wash, you'll have to polish all around the etch and then use cotton swabs and (my favorite) itty bitty brushes made from frayed toothpick ends to polish in between the bits of etching as best you can.
Or, you could leave them as they are... they look pretty dang nice!