Anyone know the visual differences from leaded and unleaded pewter?

[letsmeltlead2693]

Anyone know the visual differences from leaded and unleaded pewter? Anyone know the difference between melted and solidified ingots of leaded and unleaded pewter?

[runfiverun]

weight.
leaded pewter is older stuff.

[303Guy]

Apparently lead content gives pewter a bluish tinge and makes it more malleable. Unil now I thought pewter was a lead tin zinc alloy.

[imashooter2]

You would need a way better eye than I have to visually distinguish between pewter alloys...

[darkroommike]

Pewter with a high content of lead will look darker and can even look a bit "greasy". If you run your thumb across it it will also feel a bit greasy--somewhat like a piece of plastic washed in cold water. Also very soft, look for scratches on the base. Your thumbnail will scratch it, too, but that's bad form if you don't own the piece. Avoid Wilton or anything that looks like Wilton, it's zinc. Real pewter pieces's are formed and not cast.

[cajun shooter]

Wilton is not zinc but a mix of seven different alloys with the main one being aluminum. It contains no pewter or tin and is not good for bullet making as it's melting point is over 1700 degrees.
Real pewter may be bent with a very easy thumb push but make sure you are buying the piece.

[letsmeltlead2693]

I have 2 types of pewter. One when I melted it was glass smooth and the other when I melted it was grainy. The grainy one was 97% tin. The shiny smooth pewter was from goodwill and a yardsale. There are crystals in the cheap pewter. The 97% tin pewter is not shiny. They both have a yellowish tint to them when they cooled on the surface. The cheap pewter has a dent in the center from where it cooled last. The other pewter does too, but it is less noticeable.