Reed & Barton definitely made pewter and is part of the touchmark.
Reed & Barton definitely made pewter and is part of the touchmark.
That sounds potentially like several hundred pounds!
Your call, but I bet you could get that price down. Your call also, but given how some folks really seem to value the form, style, history, workmanship, etc., and not the material, I generally don't tell the seller that I'm gonna melt it all down. Sometimes when asked I'll say I collect pewter, which is true, and leave it at that. On the other hand, sometimes I say I'm looking for scrap, not collectible pewter, because I am thinking of casting pewter figurines (so far all of mine end up being very small and generally conical). That way the seller doesn't feel bad about what he might consider collectibles getting melted down, only scrap that he will get some money for and that is useful to a hobbyist, and I get a good price.
ETA: if you can front the money for all of it, even at $4 per pound of confirmed pewter, you can double your money or better selling it here, and if you sell half of it at that price point, the other half is free save for the effort you invest.
Last edited by kevin c; 08-02-2019 at 07:17 PM.
I got a really strong feeling that the owner has progressed from having an antique shop to being a hoarder. The lady who tipped me off to the place was selling the contents of a storage unit, the remains of what I think was a permanent "Garage Sale" home business. She has apparently takes "things that don't sell" to this shop(the one I'm dealing with) in the next town up the road.
I think the owner of that one just can't say "No" so it gets added to the current clutter. Now she realizes she has to do something about it as she is trying to sell the building. I also think that, at her age, she just doesn't know where to start or what to do with her inventory, a good share of which, from what I saw, really needs to go into a dumpster. I think that it was once a real antique shop, but was the clutter accumulated the customers dwindled since it is impossible to browse anything in there.
I think the big pewter/silver pile started as shelves along a wall, then got "stuff" on the floor in front of the shelves and [I]that[I] morphed into a talus slope chest high and at whatever angle of repose hundreds of pieces of pewter/silver assume. There is a path maybe 12" wide at the toe of the slope, barely wide enough, in spots, for me to turn my Size 14s around so I could walk back out. At the entrance to that room there is some furniture item(I think) under another growing pile of more metals.
"There is more upstairs." Margot(owner) pointed out.
I declined as it is a wide, fairly steep staircase with only a path up the center. Stuff piled against the wall as well as the bannisters. My running gear is getting a bit creaky especially my left knee, and I really need a handrail and open room on any stairs I use. I suspect the 2nd floor is a much a clutter as the ground floor.
One of the big issues with trying to sort the metals is that there is NO open space to start in. It's one thing to sort through a pile, take out what you want and set the jetsam aside, but no place to do that. The next time I go up I will try to come up with some sort of plan of action and see how that gets received.
My daughter used to live on the outskirts of the town and has met Margot. Her take was "She's nice but she's a little bit crazy." Hopefully not intolerably so as I would really like to make this work.
Literacy should not be considered optional in computer based communication.
Well, if you do get a workable plan into operation, it sounds like you'd be doing her a big favor, and I think it's kinda nice that both parties can benefit.
When I run into a "Margot" I haul in my 5 gallon buckets, LED flashlight, Opti-visor, and digital shipping scale. A bucket doubles as a stool/chair. Good stuff in the bucket. Not good stuff to the side. When the folks start talking about it's collector value, I talk about it's future as a puddle. 95% want it gone and cash in the pocket so they don't mind the puddle future. I have found some 18th and 19th century stuff that I didn't melt that I sold or gave as gifts but there weren't many.
Well, here's a new one for me. It's a cast pewter candlelabra that has a screw on base. I didn't see the joint between the two parts, otherwise I would have passed on it, even though it was labeled, had the right heft, tone, and bendability at the right price, because I thought all pewter items were one piece bodies save for lids and covers.
The company name was Quist, from Germany, apparently known for cast items. They went out of business in the eighties. The words "zinn gegossen" translate "cast tin/pewter". No angel touch mark. The company name is cast on the inside of the felt covered base. The base shows the injection casting points interiorly, and a close look at the exterior of the body shows some joints in the sections. The base has a hex socket for the body, secured by a stainless threaded rod. Weight with the felt card base and rod is 19.5 oz. It bends, scratches and melts in a propane torch like pewter, so I'm giving it a thumbs up.
New to the game but looking at another forum at a web 6 cordial shot glass and serving tray set for 18 and an avon 1957 chyrsler 300 for 10 guy says its solid pewter. Anyone know the weights if you've bought something like these in the past. Looking forward to raiding my local shops to see and feel in person.
Only buy the stuff that has a touchmark that's pressed into the surface that says "PEWTER" to start. After you've played with it a while you'll be able to spot it across the room on a table full of stuff.
jsizemore is right. Other than what jumps up into my hands and screams "buy me" I'm not even looking for more, but I still see it standing out from the silver plate and chrome colored junk.
After you find some, you'll be astounded at how much more you run into.
I forgot we had bought a pewter sugar bowl years back that is marked americana pewter from the international silver company and is now used for my shave soap.
Picked this up at the goodwill. Passed the scratch and bend test. After glass removal comes to 9.10 oz paid 2.13.
Its either tin which would come to 3.74/lb or lead of which I over paid. Im leaning towards tin as the first post mentions soldering and all the joints were soldered in place. Sorry for bumping this thread so much just trying to get as much information to try to catch to some of you big dogs since I'm just getting into this whole casting.
Stain glass came is usually a high amount of lead since it's fairly soft and conforms/cushions the glass. Lead's melt temp is 629degF or there abouts. It's soldered together with a high tin solder since it's melts at a much lower temp then lead. Depending on the tin content 350-450degF. You got some tin for your money but it's all in the soldered joints.
Pewter is mostly tin with a bit of antimony and/or copper. It acts as it's own solder. Slowly raise the temp of the 2 parts of pewter you want stuck together in the presence of flux and they flow together.
Tin likes sticking to stuff. That's why you see it as the shiny metal at the joints of your stain glass frame.
Nevermind, found it at https://macacke.com/europeanpewter/c...ter_marks.html
I sorry. I got distracted and forgot to return and leave a post.
The angel is used on continental European countries pewter. Not all Euro countries used the angel.
Angel facing to the left, blowing upturned horn and evergreen bough in left is Holland.
German is facing you and not always blowing the horn.
I've gotten a few pieces of Swiss pewter (very few) with the angel straight at you and it looks like fern bough in the left hand.
I have seen another touchmark that has an angel with empty hands and anther with a balance scale.
That's a good start, 1775! You got a better price per pound and a bigger score than I got with my first purchase, 350# ago!
Is that a hollow based candlestick? A fair number of them are weighted, with a bottom plate of pewter covering the weight that'll need removing prior to melt down.
Yeah, one problem with pewter hunting with family (or letting them see the haul before it makes it to your stash) is that a fair amount will get "requisitioned"...
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |