A question for the pewter guru's ?

[DHurtig]

All the pewter I have acquired so far has been a silvery grey or "pewter " color. Today, I picked up 3 pieces of German pewter that is a very dark charcoal almost black color. Was this stuff made this way, or is this some type of tarnish or oxidation? Dale

[imashooter2]

Pewter (particularly wall hanger type plates) is often darkened in crevices to show artistic detail. I've never seen an entire piece blackened. If it is hallmarked, then you are pretty safe...

Pics?

[DHurtig]

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e69/c_latrans/Picture283.jpg
This is my meager stash so far. The 3 pieces at the back of the tray are the ones I was talking about. All 3 pieces are marked with names and or hallmarks. Dale

[imashooter2]

You can see the darkening I was talking about in the band around the tankard. I've never seen anything like those other two. But as I said, if it's hallmarked, you can't go wrong.

[DHurtig]

The tankard weighed 11 oz and I paid $3 for it. I found it on a site that specializes in pewter and it is still available for the modest price of $69. At least it still looks good, until fate calls its name anyway. Dale

[troy_mclure]

Throw it up on eBay, even if you only get $10 for it, that's still 3x what you paid, and that much more you can buy.

[gundownunder]

A nice tankard like that, I'd be tempted to add it to my beer mug collection.
$3 is about what I would be willing to pay for a piece like that for melting down.

[imashooter2]

Throw it up on eBay, even if you only get $10 for it, that's still 3x what you paid, and that much more you can buy.

Look at what actually sells on eBay. A tankard like that would sell for less than $5 and would cost $5 to ship. Ebay charges you fees on the full price, plus shipping, (not to mention the PayPal scam). So your $2 profit turns into a 20 cent loss and you haven't spent the gas to drive to the post office yet.

Nope. That tankard is alloy sweetener.

[guidogoose]

You could just try test melting it with a torch. If it melts easily then its most likely pewter. My .02

[Iron Mike Golf]

I have gotten old pewter that is very dark gray. There are antiquing solutions that blacken pewter. I suspect that blackening could occur naturally, given the right storage envionment (maybe low pH and high humidity?)

[Sasquatch-1]

I have picked up some that looks a lot like the two pieces in the back. It almost looks like lead that has been laying around for a long time.

[Iron Mike Golf]

I find that when it's real dark like that, it has an almost greasy feel to it.

[DHurtig]

I think I found the answer to my question. Found an article that says that the dark color indicates the presence of lead in older pewter. Hope thew link works, Dale

http://www.german-toasting-glasses.com/pewter_care.html