"TK" made in japan oval vanity plate...pewter

[Tripplebeards]

I took the $1.95 gamble at the salvation army today. The plate is as heavy as a rock. It has flowers on it with a nickel or silver coating thats comming off. I can bend the side pretty easy. Its almost black in color where the plating came off. For some reason I cannot dowload pics on here anymore or I'd post a pic. The loader keeps saying my pics are too big and its the same way I always do it. The "TK" is inside of a diamond and it says made in japan. Googled it for 2 hours and came up blank. I picked up an old oval pewter vanity plate from the 1750's from the same place a couple months ago that was the same shape and size and figured gamble. Can anyone tell me if its pewter? If not my sister's all over it.

[skeettx]

I would have this piece "gunned" and you may find it to be sterling silver
Mike

[mozeppa]

don't think sterling can be bent by the hand very easily.

[JBinMN]

I use a propane torch to test what I find. The risk is that I have to pay for it to test it, as obviously most places including garage sales, etc, won't let ya check for it melting. But if you take a propane torch to it & it start to melt in about 3-4 seconds, you have pewter most likely. Pewter has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C (338–446 °F), so it doesn't take long for it to start to melt before other metals like Alum. & such. As ya likely know, tin/pewter the temp is even less than lead.

Here is a chart showing the melting points of metals in the periodic table. As ya can see Tin is one that is relatively low. The temps are in Celcuis.
https://www.lenntech.com/periodic-chart-elements/melting-point.htm

I do have one source that will let me check before buying as it is a scrapyard, but that is the only place I can check before buying. You can always try it in a place that is not too noticable & salvage the piece for your sister if it is not too bad.
:)

If ya already know this stuff, then just forget I mentioned it. Just trying to help incase ya did not...
LOL
:)

G'Luck!
:)

[RogerDat]

Electro Plated Britannia Metal is silver plate over tin/pewter. Look for EPBM or three of those four letters on the back PBM (plated Britannia metal) or EBM or EPB may indicate that is what you have. You know on the old stuff like from the 1750's it is worth way more as an antique than it is as pewter. Even wholesale to an antique dealer one can often make 2x the cash that the pewter/tin is worth. Depending on item.

Higher lead (pre-1970's) pewter tarnishes more black in color than the gray color of more modern tin/antimony/copper pewter. And almost solid black generally means pretty old. I have two saucers that are around 1750 manufacture, short of a zombie apocalypse and running low on tin I wouldn't melt those. Or bend them either. Least price I have seen on those items is over $40 each, on up to over $100 but those were larger diameter.