Pewter?

[GoodOlBoy]

I have seen in several threads where folks talk about buying up old pewter. Maybe I am just dense, but why? Is it good for alloy? I'm lost on the pewter topic.

Thanks

GoodOlBoy

[JASON4X4]

Pewter is about 90% tin helps fill out adds a small amount of hardness. Can be the cheapest source of tin.

[GoodOlBoy]

Thanks Jason4x4, I was wondering what the heck I was missing. Guess I need to keep an eye out for this stuff too.

GoodOlBoy

[too many things]

make sure it says pewter on the piece. don't go by looks.

[imashooter2]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?127929-Pewter-pictures-and-hallmarks

[GoodOlBoy]

Thanks for the link!

GoodOlBoy

[bangerjim]

make sure it says pewter on the piece. don't go by looks.


MOST people cannot tell the difference between cast club aluminum and real pewter. Read the bottom!!!!!!! Most of the "silvery" stuff you see at junk stores will be aluminum.

Buyer beware.

bangerjim

[Alan in Vermont]

I've been stopping at various sales looking for pewter. So far no heavy pieces, not a lot of small pieces either (this area seems to be pewter deprived) but between yesterday and today I picked up just shy of two pounds for a total of $4. Cheapest piece weighed 9.3 ozs and I got it for 50 cents. Also found three medium sized loaf pans for $1, those will work great for sorting brass.

[mikeym1a]

I live in a small town, and have found no pewter at all. Being from a small town, I guess it all got bought up long ago. A bigger town, city, large flea markets would be better for finding pewter. It's claim to fame is that it is mostly tin, which is good for boolit alloys. But, you need to read the threads on pewter carefully. The vessels are usually thin. Some that look big are often a hollow shell filled with something like plaster of paris to give it heft, so, even a big vessel might only give you a few ounces of pewter. The key here is the price. You can get pure tin from RotoMetals for about $20/lb, so you need to keep that in mind in buying pewter. The few pieces I've found were priced like they were made of silver. Hope this helps. mikey

[GoodOlBoy]

Yep as always it all helps. What has me grimacing is that not three weeks ago I was at a garage sale where they had about a dozen of the clear bottom pewter tankards for 20 cents a piece. I passed because I couldn't think of a good reason to buy them.... oh well live and learn.

GoodOlBoy

[Beagle333]

That's a good reason to grimace! Now they're collecting dust on somebody's mantel somewhere. What a waste! :shock:

[bangerjim]

Yep as always it all helps. What has me grimacing is that not three weeks ago I was at a garage sale where they had about a dozen of the clear bottom pewter tankards for 20 cents a piece. I passed because I couldn't think of a good reason to buy them.... oh well live and learn.

GoodOlBoy

I bet those were aluminum and not pewter!

Most are NOT pewter, unless rather old and then they are worth far more as a collectable than the poultry price of the pewter for boolits.

It MUST be stamped pewter.........almost all of the time it will be clearly hallmarked as such.

And living in a large area means nothing. I live in the Phoenix (now THAT"S big!!!) area and there is very little affordable pewter!!!!!!


banger

[dubber123]

I bet those were aluminum and not pewter!

Most are NOT pewter, unless rather old and then they are worth far more as a collectable than the poultry price of the pewter for boolits.

It MUST be stamped pewter.........almost all of the time it will be clearly hallmarked as such.

And living in a large area means nothing. I live in the Phoenix (now THAT"S big!!!) area and there is very little affordable pewter!!!!!!


banger

You might get 8oz of tin from a typical one. At todays prices, thats about 10$ worth of tin. I haven't seen many sell for that, especially in beat up condition with "ACE" scratched on the side. I bought one just yesterday for 50 cents. I won't be saving it to hand down to my kids. :)

[imashooter2]

I bet those were aluminum and not pewter!

Most are NOT pewter, unless rather old and then they are worth far more as a collectable than the poultry price of the pewter for boolits.

It MUST be stamped pewter.........almost all of the time it will be clearly hallmarked as such.

And living in a large area means nothing. I live in the Phoenix (now THAT"S big!!!) area and there is very little affordable pewter!!!!!!


banger

-sigh- Your opinion does not match my experience. There is certainly pewter that has value. Antiques prior to the 20th century and certain well known "artists" may command prices in excess of scrap value, but the vast majority of modern hallmarked pewter simply does not sell at collectable prices. Collectable prices are often asked, but they are not received. I have bought and melted many 20th century glass bottom pewter mugs. They are very, very common.

[Alan in Vermont]

Most are NOT pewter, unless rather old and then they are worth far more as a collectable than the poultry price of the pewter for boolits.



What does the price of chickens have to do with buying pewter?

[GoodOlBoy]

It has to do with horse trading Alan! See normally a piece of pewter is worth about a weeks worth of eggs from a good laying hen. But in these times of over pricing they are asking six to eight weeks of eggs from a good hen for them. Heck at that point you might as well trade the whole hen! Thus the poultry price!

GoodOlBoy

[bangerjim]

-sigh- Your opinion does not match my experience. There is certainly pewter that has value. Antiques prior to the 20th century and certain well known "artists" may command prices in excess of scrap value, but the vast majority of modern hallmarked pewter simply does not sell at collectable prices. Collectable prices are often asked, but they are not received. I have bought and melted many 20th century glass bottom pewter mugs. They are very, very common.


You are dealing in MODERN food service pewter. I am dealing with OLD antique 100-200+ year old stuff.....well hallmarked and recognizable as definitely "valuable"....at lease to me who knows what the stuff is worth.

I am just pointing out to those that do not appreciate the value of REAL antiques and are just looking for a cheap source to make boolits, there are those pieces out there, especially back east, that ARE worth far more that pewter at a lousy $10/#.

Just be aware of what have in your hand B4 you toss in into your melting pot and the $$ are gone forever.

bangerjim

[bangerjim]

What does the price of chickens have to do with buying pewter?


If you have never hears that phrase used before, especially being back in your neck of the woods. you must have been living under a rock. Or mabe......... Afghanistan?!?!?!?!?

HA....ha


banger

[imashooter2]

You are dealing in MODERN food service pewter. I am dealing with OLD antique 100-200+ year old stuff.....well hallmarked and recognizable as definitely "valuable"....at lease to me who knows what the stuff is worth.

I am just pointing out to those that do not appreciate the value of REAL antiques and are just looking for a cheap source to make boolits, there are those pieces out there, especially back east, that ARE worth far more that pewter at a lousy $10/#.

Just be aware of what have in your hand B4 you toss in into your melting pot and the $$ are gone forever.

bangerjim

What we disagree about is your statement that most glass bottom mugs are not pewter unless they are very old and then they are worth far more as a collectable. A scrounger is very unlikely to find a true valuable antique at a thrift shop or yard sale priced as scrap. On the other hand, it is fairly easy to find modern pieces that have no real value other than in the mind of their owners. Plenty of folks are going to send their kids to college with their valuable Beanie Baby collection or Pokemon cards... right up until they try to sell them.

[el34]

Banger, he was playing off of spelling. Chances are good you were thinking paltry and typing poultry. Maybe a defective keyboard, worth checking out :bigsmyl2:.

[jsizemore]

The quickest way to tell if a mug is pewter or aluminum is if the handle is riveted on it's aluminum. Pewter is the solder. Any ware that is exposed to an open flame is GENERALLY NOT pewter. So cookware can be excluded from your search. Pewter GENERALLY bends and dents easily. Make sure you are willing to pay the price before you squeeze it.

[RogerDat]

I'm pretty sure the plastic bottom (never saw actual glass bottom) pewter mugs are modern. It is probably worth checking anything that is not like a plastic bottom mug and clearly modern to at least get an idea of if it is of real value as is. Working off of the hallmark should get you some information. Fancy looking may be worth little and plain as all get out may be from an important period or manufacturer.

Stuff one sees on Antiques road show can be most enlightening because some stuff seems pretty plain turns out to be of great value to collectors. Things such as costume jewelry that I would think $5 turns out to be several hundred dollars.

My ex sister in law gave a string of pearls to her little girl that her dad had given her when he came back from a construction job when sister in law was young. Her daughter played with them and broke the string, since the girl was older and no longer played dress up her mother put the jewelry in with the toys in the garage sale. The construction job had been in Hawaii, the employer owned a pearl importing company, her dad had picked out a color matched set of natural pearls in tapered sizes of about 20 inches. Went for 25 cents in the garage sale. Would have been well over 2 grand in a jewelry store.

I guess I'm saying just because it's $2 at a garage sale don't mean any more about the value than someone is asking $$$ on Ebay. Have to do some checking and learning or risk finding out too late that you just melted down enough money to buy three new molds for 1# of tin.

P.S individual knots around each pearl should have been a dead give away that these were not "beads". I was married to the youngest daughter who was given the shortest strand of pearls. They appraised at $1800 at the jewelers. The oldest daughter was given the longest strand of three sets.