Are these pewter?

[mecoastie]

I am new to the whole pewter thing. A junk shop up the road from me has 2 of these plates. THey are a presidential limited edition and say international pewter limited edition on the back. Here is an Ebay auction with what they look like:

http://cgi.ebay.com/International-Pewter-President-Kennedy-Plate-/120654458603?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c1790eeeb

Was just there and got about a pound and a half of pewter for $5 so I know I can get these cheap. Are they real?

Thanks

[imashooter2]

They don't look like pewter to me.

[Bloodman14]

Wrong color for pewter; look like an alloy of some kind. Is there a % symbol on the back of yours with a number? Number should be 92-96 (if it IS pewter).

[a.squibload]

Tap it with fingernail, coin, etc., "ting" noise = not pewter.
Try to bend it (while nobody's looking!), pewter bends pretty easy.
I don't suppose the citric acid test would go over well in the store but you could attempt it!

[captaint]

If I had to guess, I would say no. Looks too thick for real pewter. The real thing is usually thin and not very heavy. Bends easily. If looks and acts like aluminum, looks like aluminum, it probably is. Always look for the stamp on the bottom. English pewter, German pewter. Not International pewter Co. After a while you'll know it when you see it. enjoy Mike

[jsizemore]

I bought a pair of old hunting scene plates that I thought might be old pewter when lead was still used in the alloy. They were dark gray like oxidized lead. They didn't bend easily but the price was right and since they were hunting scenes I bought them anyway. Both of the plates had a tab with a hole for hanging and that should have been the giveaway that if it was really pewter then from it's weight it would pull through the thin tab if hung on a nail. I stuck it in the dutch oven with a piece of known pewter of about the same thickness and 2 minutes after the control melted it was still as hard as when I put it in the pot. If it is some alloy of pewter I doubt it's of any use for our purposes. Might be ok to hang on the wall. Got mine for 50 cents a piece. Wolves and hounds.

[mecoastie]

They have the hanging points on them. Glad I left them.