This brass plate, engraved with Francis Drake's 1579 claim to California, became the state's greatest historical treasure when it was found and authenticated in the late 1930s.

The best way to clean the kick plate on your front door depends on the material. If the kick plate is unlacquered solid brass or brass plate, you can try cleaning it with a commercial brass polish.

Said historian Von der Porten: “There is still a plate of brass out there.” More to Read $25,000 reward offered for information on stolen bronze plaques honoring L.A. teachers ...

Finger plates are a two-century old trend that is trending again. House Digest's interior designer Erika Dale tells us more about this antique door decor.

Before you reinstall the plate, decide how you want to care for the brass long-term. If you want a shiny look, at least for a few years, add a fresh lacquer coating.

A “unique coffin plate,” it is valued at up to $18,000 (£12,000). Cromwell, perhaps the most hated figure in Irish history , slaughtered tens of thousands of Irish men, women, and children.