COMMUNITY POLL

How this site pewter content
is efficient for you?

Wow. Excellent pewter sources
I can find my pewter content
Good pewter sources
There is nothing here for me
The pewter content is irrelevant

The discovery of pewter alloy

Even if it seems rather unbelievable, pewter alloy is one of the oldest alloys ever made and used by man. Findings have led scientists to the conclusion that pewter alloy has been used since 1500 BC. In that time, pewter utensils replaced gold and silver ware and were very popular in all Europe.

As the time passed, the American colonists imported pewter alloy from England and in 1635 the first pewter shop was opened in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony.

However, tin has to be imported as well from England and this made the business more expensive. The colonists had to pay a high tax for metal imported and they found another solution for this: melting the old and antique pewter items and recast those into new pewter articles.
The pewter alloys developed were used all over the world to create pewter art and today pewter popularity continues to increase.

Nowadays, pewter alloys do not contain lead because it is dangerous when in contact with food and beverages, creating poisonous reactions. Instead of lead it is used tin and many other elements like bismuth, antimony, copper, and even silver for jewelry.
Using the appropriate proportion of antimony, bismuth, copper or silver along with more than 90% of tin, leads to a wide variety of pewter alloys that are being used to create pewter art, pewter plates and even pewter tankards.

Finally, once with the discovery and creation of the pewter alloy, a whole new industry had begun, and a very successful one. At Pewters.net you have the possibility to get informed regarding all antique pewter topics, and browse through our wide variety of pewter articles.
In addition, the antique pewter articles are great pewter collectables which can be used for home decoration and home design.