It is well known that materials used for the storage and display of antiquities can emit harmful gases that initiate corrosion and cause other deterioration processes. Since 1972, conservation scientists at the British Museum have been using an accelerated aging test known as the Oddy test to evaluate the potential of materials to cause corrosion of metals. The test has been used to evaluate the corrosive effect on silver, copper, and lead, the metals that have shown the greatest potential to corrode in the museum. The introduction of the testing procedure dramatically reduced the number of instances of objects corroding in exhibition cases. It also reduced the rate at which silver tarnished. In common with many museums, the British Museum has continued to collect into the 20th century, bringing modern metals into the collection. Artifacts, coins, and medals made of aluminum, zinc, and magnesium and their alloys form a small but significant part of the collection. Such metals are commonly found in galleries of modern art. These metals are no less susceptible to corrosion than the metals of antiquity. Aluminum artifacts have exhibited both localized pitting corrosion and the formation of a thin layer of white corrosion. Zinc money from World War I and World War II has been found to corrode completely when stored in wooden coin cabinets. Magnesium has also been found to corrode forming a white surface corrosion layer. These observations have caused concern to curators and conservators. As a result, a study was undertaken to identify the cause of the corrosion; to develop the Oddy test for materials to be used in the storage and display of these metals and to produce guidelines for their storage and display. The corrosion processes involved have been investigated by identification of the corrosion products and a survey of the corrosion literature. Using this information as a basis, a series of corrosion experiments was carried out to investigate the effects of the known common pollutants in the museum environment on these metals. Guidelines for the storage and display of these metals were prepared. -- AATA