Afternoon everyone. I'm obviously new to this forum, but not to collecting.

I've collected stamps, and civil war relics since childhood. I collect watches and have a collection of vintage advertising signs and posters.

I haven't been collecting signs for very long, but have a few pieces I really like. Which brings me to my question.

At what point is it time to think about restoring a sign (at least partially) before it becomes an issue and when does it hurt the value ?

Personally I like the scuff marks, dings, bullet holes and some rust on my signs, but I just purchased a large 3 x 5 two sided porcelain flanged sign. The image is great but there is rust . The edges have some issues with rust eating thru at the mounting holes and one corner is gone (2" x 3" area) Any thoughts from the folks here about having the worst of them restored or is just stabilizing the rust a preferred alternative ?

I am intending on displaying this under a roof, outside. I'd really like to stop the rust from getting worse right now as it will be in a living environment.

Thanks in advance