Scored two International Pewter saltshakers for about 4.25 total out the door. Assuming the plastic inserts don't weigh much, that's about $6.80 a pound.
Scored two International Pewter saltshakers for about 4.25 total out the door. Assuming the plastic inserts don't weigh much, that's about $6.80 a pound.
My experience with salt shakers is that there is a very thin pewter covering over the glass or plastic. Worse yield than weighted candlesticks.
”We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, yet they are still lying.” –Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
My Straight Shooters thread:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...raight-shooter
The Pewter Pictures and Hallmarks thread:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-and-hallmarks
I'd save them as salt shakers very little pewter and I like the industrial look.
The plastic stoppers would mean they are modern food service pewter and lead free.
”We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, yet they are still lying.” –Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
My Straight Shooters thread:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...raight-shooter
The Pewter Pictures and Hallmarks thread:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-and-hallmarks
I have a set of shakers as well, about 12 ounces together, 4" tall, 2" across. Looking close after I got them (part of a big lot), I doubt that there's even three ounces of pewter over the plastic cores of both.
Taking apart candlesticks and glass bottomed mugs is a hassle, but these look an order of magnitude worse for an order of magnitude less pewter. Off to Goodwill they go.
Picked these up at the Salvation Army store today. The plate is marked Royal Holland Pewter and weighs in at 1 lb 9 oz. The dragon is unmarked and comes in 9 oz. He passes the bend test and LOOKS like pewter. Even if he's not, the plate alone is worth what I paid for it all, $8.11 out the door.
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Nice stash. That one on the bottom right should be fun. I've found some that are "shiny" that were great and then I've found a bunch that were that same pattern but dark gray like the octagonal pot on the back left that were not pewter even though they had an angel in a circle blowing a horn. I'm curious and hope it's the good stuff.
jsizemore, I hope that they all are the real thing as well. The only one that I wasn't 95% sure on was the darker candle stick that is above and to the right of the biggest plate. It has no markings at all but sure bends, scratch's and sounds like pewter. I attached photos of marks that I did not remember throughout this thread. Hope it helps. I already have 45lbs of ingoted/coined pewter in my stash but you all have me hooked on finding this stuff. Thanks a lot!
Last edited by crazyponie; 11-12-2017 at 06:45 PM. Reason: Added photo
Sure looks to be pewter, German pewter, I found this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinn "Zinn is a German occupational surname, which means someone who works with tin, a tin blacksmith"
Any questionable pieces I'd melt separately by itself, be a shame to ruin a pot of pewter from one bad piece. I had a couple of those knock off pewter frames that sure looked and bent like pewter but it snaps off like zinc, I soaked small pieces in acid and after 24 hours they turned black so something was in the mix, they went in the trash and now I only buy marked pewter.
Be careful what you wish for!
Fortunately for us most stuff that looks like pewter melts at a higher temp. Mind the melt temp and test a corner to see how quickly it melts. I keep my melt under 500degF. I've got a couple pieces of Italian "pewter" with PELATRO 95% cast into the side. Except for the dark gray color and slick finish it looks like old slightly leaded "ley" pewter but is zink through and through.
I'm glad your stuff was all good cp.
RWP Wilton “ARMETALE” is not Pewter
Items marked RWP by the Wilton Company of Pennsylvania.
These Wilton items are not pewter or antique. They are made of Armetale®, a non-toxic aluminum-based alloy trademarked by the Wilton company and suitable for cooking and dining use.
https://www.rubylane.com/collectible...pewter%20marks
So I got a beat up old cup with incised decoration in a bunch of marked pewter in an estate sale. It has that dull sound rather than a ring on being tapped. It bends easily and has the same tin cry on being bent up as marked pewter. It melts readily on application of a propane torch, and filing deep shows only a silver color not brass or copper. It cuts with snips like the marked pewter I cut samples from. But the markings on it say that it is quadruple plate, which I thought was usually silver plate over brass or copper, and the company is a silversmith. Not marked as pewter anywhere.
Is this unmarked Brittania Metal? Is it a cupronickel alloy? It is tarnished like silver plate, but I don't see any greenish discoloration that would mean copper is in the base alloy.
I will see if the piece I cut melts at ~450 degrees the next time I melt a batch of marked pewter, but was wondering if anyone else has any similar finds and what conclusions were made.
Last edited by kevin c; 12-07-2017 at 03:35 AM.
That would be the one you file under "white metal". It's whatever is in the pot. I'd do a test with acid to see if it has any zinc. If it doesn't have zinc then I'd melt it with the rest of my pewter stash. If it does have zinc then I'd use it separate from the rest.
Thanks for your advice! In my limited experience with zinc I'd always thought it was stiff, not bendable like pewter so I wasn't sure the muriatic acid test was the way to go, but I'll try that, and try the melt at 450 as well.
Antimony and copper also make tin stiff but if you don't put in much your pewter alloy is still malleable. If you melted it all together any zinc contained would be so small to make little difference.
$20 FOR 5.76 LBS
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