my old flute's gone green!

[joolz]

I have an old Gemeinhardt which says M3 on it (don't know if that is a model or not). I was told after a couple of years playing on it that it was holding me back and so we put it aside and it has lived in it's case now for about 20 years. I'm pretty sure it need repadding but the most yuckky thing about it is that everywhere the silver plate has come off (which is just about everywhere), it has turned green. Kind of like what copper does after a while. Is this dangerous to be playing??? My daughter wants to learn to play and this is the only thing that I have lying around at the moment that actually belongs to me. I would go and buy her a Yamaha student flute, but she is learning the clarinet at the moment and I am just about to make a large purchase flute (semi pro) so I was hoping not to have to spend money on a student flute.

Is there anything that could take the green off? It just looks as though mould is growing on it (even though I know it's not - it just looks irksome).

Thanks,
Juliette

[flutepicc06]

The base metal is probably nickel-silver or brass...A good polish would probably remove the green, but at risk to other parts of the flute. There shouldn't be anything particularly dangerous about your daughter playing it (especially if it's for the short-term), as the green is probably just oxidation (like the black tarnish that develops on Silver). I wouldn't worry too much about it.