Pewter pictures and hallmarks...

[imashooter2]

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.

[jsizemore]

"LPCA Poole Silver Company B32"
Usable, no? Pretty stiff stuff, I cut into it.

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.

[Boolseye]

Here's the hallmark and a couple other shots.
bending rim slightly with hand strength, snipped tab (bends hard)

[Boolseye]

I just noticed the new replies. You got it exactly, jsizemore Thanks guys.
Probably won't be sniftin' much more brandy

[jsizemore]

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.

[dolfinwriter]

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.


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:


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:


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.


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.

[imashooter2]

As you suspected, the last item isn't pewter. Good luck on eBay.

[Swede 45]

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!

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.


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..

[jsizemore]

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.

[imashooter2]

Found a few new hallmarks over the last couple weeks.
A 5 X 10 inch candy dish very thin, 6.8 ounces.


A 5.5 inch vase at 8.8 ounces.


And a 2.5 X 3 inch sugar, 7 ounces even.

[imashooter2]

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.

[imashooter2]

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..

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

[iraiam]

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.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

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.

[dsbock]

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:

And the hallmarks:

[imashooter2]

Nice macro pics. A couple of new ones in there too. Thanks for the additions!

[jsizemore]

There's 4 touchmarks in DSBock's pics I've not seen before. Thanks.

[dsbock]

Glad I could add to the knowledge base.

One of the mugs had markings on the side:


It was the mug with this marking on the bottom:


David

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Score

[Retumbo]

Picked up a nice plate with the EU standard mark.