Current 2021-2022 tin/pewter prices

[JeepsAndGuns]

So I have spent the last few days skimming through the 10 mile long thread on pewter that is a sticky at the top of the forum.
The largest majority of the posts are many years old.
It seems like tin is much more expensive than it used to be. Right now, tin is $29 a pound on rotometals.
I am still new to this, so I do not know what the price on it has been in the past, so I am trying to figure out what to pay for pewter if I see it for sale at flea markets or thrift stores.
I know the cheaper the better, but what is the current limit/cutoff for you right now in late 2021 and fixing to be 2022, when inflation is jacking up the prices on everything.
My thought process is, "if it cheaper than what I can buy it for new, then it is a better deal". I know that is not always true, but I feel like in the case of metal/scrap to be melted, I feel like it does.
So is this a bad thought process to use? I know pewter is not 100% tin. So what is your cutoff? With new tin being $29, what is the most you would pay for pewter right now?
I went to a few thrift stores (4 in total, 3 being goodwill) while visiting with my mom (who lives far away from me) and scored a small creamer cup, a glass bottom beer mug thing, and a picture frame. All adding up to probably a couple pounds (maybe less, I will not be able to weigh till I get home) for around $15 total (from a couple different stores).
While it might not be as good of a deal as some of ya'll have got, I feel like it was not bad with todays current market/prices.

So what does everyone consider fair prices in todays market?

[BIGOX]

Well I'll chime in here. Yes rotometals is on the expense side but you'll know it's pure. Do you need pure? That's up to you but I don't. A lot of the pewter I get is usually marked 92% or higher. I stay away from picture frames unless the price is around a buck. I get a lot of those glass bottom tankers. Watch out sometimes the base rim isn't pewter and if it has rivets it probably not pewter. In the recent passed I sold groups of pewter all marked the same 7lbs shipped for $68. It seemed to sell at that price.

[CastingFool]

You have to be careful if you buy pewter candle holders. A lot of them will be weighed, and it won't be solid pewter. They put some sort of filler inside them, like a putty stuff. I have melted a couple of those, and took them apart, to remove the "weight" before smelting them into ingots.

[JeepsAndGuns]

You have to be careful if you buy pewter candle holders. A lot of them will be weighed, and it won't be solid pewter. They put some sort of filler inside them, like a putty stuff. I have melted a couple of those, and took them apart, to remove the "weight" before smelting them into ingots.

Yea I saw that a lot in the sticky thread. So far I have not come up on any candle holders in my limited searches.

[oley55]

$10 a pound is my max, but patience will generally get me lower. Of course being in or near large population areas help.

on ur mug the glass bottom usually has an aluminum ring on the underside. some prying and bending of the pewter will free it and the glass.

[oley55]

a few threads down is another thread about finding tin, my post on page 2 mentions silver plated items. something to read and consider. I’d link or copy it here but I’m on my iphone and copying n pasting is beyond my skill set.

[15meter]

I used to draw the line @ $2.00 before the creeping crud hit. I had several resale shops that would get in a fair amount of pewter and I don't think they had a clue what they had. The biggest has gone out of business since the crud. That was my biggest supplier. Not unusual for me to walk in there with a ten dollar bill and walk out with 10 lbs. of pewter.

I managed to collect over a hundred pounds over about a 3 year period. At this point I won't buy unless it is a screaming deal. Should have more than a lifetimes worth stacked in the shed.

But I still troll just for the hunt of it.

Just not at Salvation Army any more. And Goodwill always had better prices anyway.

Never had much luck at estate sales, "That was granny's most favorite thing!" kind of prices.

I know the prices in the resale shops have gone up, don't think it is to the $10 price level yet around here.

[fc60]

Greetings,

I watch the online auction sites for Solder.

Due to some regulation, if it is past the expiration date you cannot use it to make parts. So, it gets sold as salvage.

I bought two ten pound spools of 1/8" diameter 99.9% solder and very few have a practical use for it. I submitted my best offer and it was accepted.

I recently bought several spools of 99% solder that was in a smoke filled warehouse fire. The spools were sooty; but, the marking on the flanges was intact.

Wave soldering machines use bars that weigh 2.2 pounds/one kilo. Look for alloys that are 99+% tin. Most of it is vacuum melted and very pure.

It takes a while to score a deal. Be patient.

Best part about solder is it is usually marked with the composition. No guessing.

Treat it like bullion. Just buy it at $10.00 per pound and let it grow to $20.00 per pound.

Keep it in the original spool or bar. Once melted down into Lyman ingots it looses it's value as there is no guarantee as to what it is.

Cheers,

Dave

[JeepsAndGuns]

Keep it in the original spool or bar. Once melted down into Lyman ingots it looses it's value as there is no guarantee as to what it is.


I was looking on ebay at "tin ingots" and that was one of the biggest concerns I had. While the prices were a little cheaper than rotometals, my only thought was "I have no idea what is in that ingot". There is really no guarantee of how pure the metal is other than the sellers word. You have no idea what else might be mixed in with it.

[JimB..]

I was looking on ebay at "tin ingots" and that was one of the biggest concerns I had. While the prices were a little cheaper than rotometals, my only thought was "I have no idea what is in that ingot". There is really no guarantee of how pure the metal is other than the sellers word. You have no idea what else might be mixed in with it.
Much safer to buy ingots from someone here than ebay.

I got lucky on craigslist one day, got 100lbs in one shot. Still get pieces from thrift stores from time to time, average cost is maybe $3/lb.

[kevin c]

The availability, asking and selling prices of second hand pewter seem to vary with the locality. Out here on the left coast, I consider buying at $4/#, and am more likely to the lower the price or the larger the amount available. But, having a very good supply, I can pass on a so so deal until a better comes along.

The odd bit of pewter I’ve found at thrifts, but my biggest and best value scores came from auction houses and estate sales.

[dimaprok]

I am on the "left" coast too and prices are crazy in thrift stores. Want a cast iron pot for lead melting, get ready to shell out $25! I stick with pewter for tin source, 93 - 95% is good as pure for me and the extra copper mix in there is actually really good for your alloy to make it stronger but not brittle like antimony. I always scout the thrift stores for pewter when I or family shop there, normally it's the chalice or creamery type, sometimes fancy mugs or platters. Oh the things I melted would make people shed a tear or two. Prices are not great, $2-4 for 1/4 to 1/2lb items but it's far cry from $30/lb and you only get to spend few dollars at a time.

I don't have 300lb stash but the only alloy that I sweeten with Tin is my pistol alloy which is 50% pure lead and 50% COWW and 2% pewter - that can go a long way. You only need about 1/3lb of pewter for pot of lead (16.3lb) Alloy calculator shows something like this
Tin Antimony Lead
1.95% 1.58% 96.3%

Have you consider using Linotype or Foundry for your Tin source?
I found that my "linotype" is actually Foundry type based on hardness test. I tested in the neighbourhood of 34 BHN and that would put me at 15% tin from that. So I plugged in 2lb of Foundry Type and 15lb of COWW in to alloy calculator and end up with 2.21% tin so no need to add anymore tin and I got more Foundry/Lino than I got any other alloy because I got smoking deal.

Now consider the cost per lb. I found that using following prices $1.50/lb for lead, $8.5lb/lb pewter and $2.60 foundry (which people market as lino most of the time) you end with price per pound around $1.64 for both alloys but with Foundry mix alloy you also get more Antimony for harder bullets. My price is below a dollar. Now I just need to send samples to get tested.

15lb COWW + 2lb Foundry
Tin % Antimony % Arsenic % Lead % Weight
2.21% 5.35% 0.22% 92.2% 17.0

15lb COWW + 3lb Foundry
Tin % Antimony % Arsenic % Lead % Weight
2.92% 6.33% 0.21% 90.5% 18.0

[JeepsAndGuns]

$10 a pound is my max

Curious as to where you came up with the $10 max?
Seems if new tin is $29 a pound, that even $15 or $20 a pound for pewter would still be a reasonable enough savings to warrant the price? Or am I wrong?
Pass on pewter at $20 a pound just to buy tin at almost 30?

[kevin c]

Because you can often buy pewter here in the S&S for less than ten dollars a pound. Why pay more?

Cheapest is to scrounge your own. Next is to pay the scrounger for his effort. Steepest cost is to pay retail for certified pure tin that really doesn’t improve the alloy much over pewter (as pewter is roughly 90% tin, adding 1.1 times the amount of pure tin desired gives you the same amount of tin, plus a bit of antimony and copper that may improve alloy characteristics).

[imashooter2]

When I was selling it a decade ago, $8 a pound was the going price. I wanted to be in at $4 a pound or less to make my labor worthwhile.

Nowadays, I have a nice pile of pewter in the basement. Enough for many years at current consumption. I’m not real interested in selling it anymore, so my price for additional stores is pretty low. If I stumbled on some at a buck or 2 a pound, I would probably buy.

Your situation is completely different. Cheaper than new isn’t a bad philosophy for short term needs while you look for low cost scrap. As you develop a stash and experience, you can adjust your personal price based on your needs and your prospects for finding a better deal.

[Land Owner]

Judicious seeking and negotiating can move the price per pound of pewter (90% to 99% tin) below $5.00 per pound. I bought, for $20 on "Special", and brought home a 5-pound(!) pewter vase marked 95% tin, which my Spousal Unit CONFISCATED, grrrrr...but I did not REALLY need it as I had already bought multiple pieces of pewter in thrift stores, flea markets, and consignment antique shops.

I keep a log of ALL pewter/tin purchased by weight and price. So far, in aggregate, my cost is LESS THAN $5.00 per pound. Two percent (2%) pewter goes a LONG way in my handguns and rifles.

[Bird]

When I started casting just a few years ago, all I had was clip on ww. I never found the need for tin until I had trouble casting 405g bullets. I added tin to improve fill out, but discovered that all I needed was more heat in the mold to make perfect bullets. I would rather spend money on clip on's than tin or pewter. Of course, these days and for the future, with wheel weight shortage, the need to blend your own lead mix is becoming more important. If tin from the large suppliers is $29 per lb then $20 lb elsewhere is a bargain if it is of similar quality.
Prices will not come down unless the economy crashes. Current pricing is the new norm.