how to tell if its pewter?

[troy_mclure]

how do you tell if something is pewter?

and how do you determine if it is worth the price?

at the local goodwill there are a few small candle sticks that the bases may be pewter. they are $1. ea.

there is also a platter that is cast of a silvery material, it is about 1'x1.5', and $4.

is there any metal like zinc that i could mistake for pewter?

[runfiverun]

pewter is marked pewter. or it has a b.m. stamped on plated stuff indicating british metal which is tin.
britain passed a law some time ago about it being marked that way.
there are some imitators wilton [sp?] comes to mind and is not tin.

[303Guy]

What exactly is pewter?

[carpetman]

303 guy--What is pewter? Well for one thing it is retwep spelled backwards.

[qajaq59]

What exactly is pewter? Pewter is roughly 80% tin 20% lead, so if you find it cheap, Buy IT!! I'm always looking but I don't find much.

[softpoint]

I don't know if there's any other metal YOU could mistake for pewter, but I sure did. I bought a quantity of vases and little cup saucers, etc,(all part of a set) from a pawnshop . Was told they were pewter. Looked like pewter to me . I ruined a 20 pound pot of alloy by adding a chunk that about 3 ounces! I still have that potfull, in a coffee can for a door stop.
There is some stuff out there, I'm not sure what it is, that must be some kind of zinc, or zinc aluminum alloy that is made to look like pewter.:coffeecom

[Shiloh]

What exactly is pewter?

If it is for food or drinking, it is 90+% tin. The other alloys are antimony, bismuth or copper. It is called fine pewter.

Ornamental pewter has lead as its main other alloy.

Shiloh

[Ohio Rusty]

Pewter is meltable, and fairly soft. A sliver can be cut away with a pocket knife. I have some that I use for poured knife bolsters. Be aware there are things that appear to be pewter, but they also have aluminum in the mix, making too hard to be melted by the common means we use. Pewter, lead and aluminum all look similiar when aged. If you can scratch it or cut it fairly easily, then it is probably pewter.

I don't use pewter for boolits, the stuff is too valuable for other muzzleloading applications like knife bolsters, poured inlays on knife and tomahawk handles, nose caps for MZ rifles, etc.
Ohio Rusty ><>

[RP]

well we still have not gotten a price on how much is a old candle stick or plate worth I have looked at some myself not sure if the amount of metal is worth the price marked on it. So if i find a item cup dont weigh alot to me it dont seem like alot of tin for 2 bucks

[qajaq59]

well we still have not gotten a price on how much is a old candle stick or plate worth I have looked at some myself not sure if the amount of metal is worth the price marked on it. So if i find a item cup dont weigh alot to me it dont seem like alot of tin for 2 bucks I'd have to agree it wouldn't be worth $2. I think tin is going for around $10 to $13 a pound and it'll take a few cups to make a pound. You might be better off buying the real tin.

[Shiloh]

The London Metal Exchange has crap tin listed at $6.72 a pound. This is yesterdays fix.
What this has to do with tin locally is anyone's guess.

Shiloh