Try to bend the rim with finger pressure. If it bends then it is likely pewter. Silver plate won't melt at casting temperatures. Nothing to worry about putting it in a pot.
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Try to bend the rim with finger pressure. If it bends then it is likely pewter. Silver plate won't melt at casting temperatures. Nothing to worry about putting it in a pot.
Looks to be Electro-Plated Copper Alloy (EPCA) Brandy Snifter pattern B32. It's a very thin silver plate over a copper/nickel/zinc base metal. Should be hardly any yield when you squeeze the rim. Probably has a slight brass appearance on the brushed inside unless the plating is thick.
Here's the hallmark and a couple other shots.
bending rim slightly with hand strength, snipped tab (bends hard)
I just noticed the new replies. You got it exactly, jsizemore :-) Thanks guys.
Probably won't be sniftin' much more brandy:violin:
It takes a while to get the hang of this stuff. There is no shortcut for putting your hands on it, just make sure you can afford the asking price when you bend it.
I did some more research on this Royal Selangor frame and changed my mind. This thing sells for $135 new and there are two listed on ebay for ~ $45. So I listed it on ebay and we'll see what happens.
Attachment 151414
I also listed this Lenox Kirk Stieff photo frame I found for $2 at a thrift shop, after I saw one that sold for $24 on ebay:
Attachment 151415 Attachment 151416
I have a couple of keepers though. There was this pair of candle holders for 99 cents each at Goodwill. They weighed 8.2 oz. after I removed the plaster of paris in the bottoms. The hallmark says Pewter Norway:
Attachment 151417 Attachment 151418 Attachment 151419 Attachment 151420
Last is this candle holder that may not be pewter. Once I removed the velvet cover from the bottom, I saw that the thing is screwed together. But if it doesn't melt, I've lost 99 cents.
Attachment 151421 Attachment 151422 Attachment 151423
That's three pewter frames I've found now that I ended up listing on ebay because they appear to be worth quite a bit more that way.
As you suspected, the last item isn't pewter. Good luck on eBay.
I while back I ran into a nice collection of pewter at a secondhand shop..
Largest pitcher was about 12inch high and held about 1.8 liters.. nice catch!
Attachment 151714
It was marked peltrato 95 so I assumed it was 95% pewter, as so is told on the web by my quick smartphone search..
Colour was dull without any shine to it, scratch test told me that it was hard.. I hoped for those 5% being something like antimon, bismuth or such.. since I´m in dear need of something to harden up my pile of pure lead.
Attachment 151715
When melting this lot down, I noticed that it took alot more heat than normal tin and pewter.. way more!
Took the ingots to my xray guy and this is what it was: 94% zink, 2.5% alu, 2.5% lead and 0.4 bismuth..
Found an italian antique forum online and got hold of a guy there.. These items are cast fake pewter, sold as tourist junk in northen italy mainly during the 60´s and 70´s.. also still sold by travelers as scams and presented as antique pewter at tourist markets and such...
Well, I got a good deal on it, close to a steal, so I´m not back any significant amount..
I stick to swedish, norwegian and finnish pewter from now on..
That touchmark looks to be surrounded by zinc/aluminum alloy texture. You'll probably find a casting seam inside or out. Hopefully you can sell to recoup some of your money.
Found a few new hallmarks over the last couple weeks.
A 5 X 10 inch candy dish very thin, 6.8 ounces.
http://imashooter2.com/pewter/hall130.jpg http://imashooter2.com/pewter/dish4.jpg
A 5.5 inch vase at 8.8 ounces.
http://imashooter2.com/pewter/hall131.jpg http://imashooter2.com/pewter/vase6.jpg
And a 2.5 X 3 inch sugar, 7 ounces even.
http://imashooter2.com/pewter/hall132.jpg http://imashooter2.com/pewter/sugar2.jpg
And add Stede to the list of "not pewter." Had a couple pieces in a lot purchase. Didn't figure them into the price, so I didn't get hurt. :)
http://imashooter2.com/pewter/stede.jpg
Thanks for the post. I've never seen that mark here in the US, but I can see where the mistake could be made. From the sound of your melt experience, it might be what I had in post 396.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...=1#post2863730
Made a pretty good score today 2.46 pounds of pewter for $9.12, A Zinn-Becker stein and a Shirley mug. Both were bent so I wasn't worried about trying to sell them. I wasn't sure about either one until I tried to re-shape them round before I bought them, I figured they were pewter after that.
Attachment 152574Attachment 152575Attachment 152576Attachment 152577
Scored some nice aluminum pieces today. One Wilton tray marked RWP and one unmarked mug. It has been a while since I looked at this thread and for the $1.87 I paid for the two pieces I wasn't going to drive home to check. I knew they felt different than some marked pewter I purchased a while back, but was hoping the difference was that they were cast thick (I think getting excited about the the weight is what really did me in) and thus difficult to bend. Now that I have made it, I will never make that mistake again! I will probably end up donating them back for the tax write off:) My rules for unmarked pewter are now: Relatively thin, soft, looks more like stamped stainless than cast aluminum/zinc, and probably has scratches/scuffs that are shiny if it has been knocked around a thrift shop at all. Somebody mentioned a smell on the hands when handling, I'll have to check that out with some known pewter when I get home.
Picked up another batch of mismatched and dinged pewter at an auction for $24.
A bunch of mugs, two with glass bottoms; a couple of non-weighted candle sticks; a couple of serving spoons; a pitcher; and some plates.
All told it weighed in at twelve pounds after I removed the glass from the two mugs. That's right around $2/pound. Not too bad.
Here's the total haul:
Attachment 153967
And the hallmarks:
Attachment 153968Attachment 153969Attachment 153970
Attachment 153971Attachment 153972Attachment 153973
Attachment 153974Attachment 153975Attachment 153976
Nice macro pics. A couple of new ones in there too. Thanks for the additions!
There's 4 touchmarks in DSBock's pics I've not seen before. Thanks.
Glad I could add to the knowledge base.
One of the mugs had markings on the side:
Attachment 153995
It was the mug with this marking on the bottom:
Attachment 153996
David
Score
Picked up a nice plate with the EU standard mark.
Attachment 154886