Pewter price check...so how much would you pay for this?
- Thread starter yomomma
- Start date
You rob a flea market? snicker. If you sell all that stuff for $20, you'll cry for a month when you find out what it can be worth. Each piece can run $7 to $30 plus. Selling it by the piece would be a colossally time consuming thing though.
The criminals in the American Rebellion likely did use pewter as lead was scarce for 'em.
The criminals in the American Rebellion likely did use pewter as lead was scarce for 'em.
Back in March, I bought a bunch of mixed pewter cups/plates/s&p shakers from a scrap dealer. The 45 Imp gallon drum was full and I paid him $200 for it. Upon close inspection, it wasn't all pewter but many things like candy dishes and candle sticks that were just copper or brass that was tin or something else coated.
The scrap dealer acknowledged there may be some stray junk in there as well and threw in 10 pounds of smelted tin to sweeten the deal. I was more than fine with that and so was he. He didn't have to deal with sending it to a smelter or sell it to another scrap dealer.
All was well.
When I got home, I took the new metal detector I had purchased at the Chilliwack show and went to an old collapsed building I knew of. The owner had given me permission so all was well. I found an aluminum weather vane with a horse and a bunch of pewter cups/plates/utensils and even a beautiful little bank in the shape of a carousel. The carousel base must have been wood because it had rotted away. From the marks inside and the size of the slot on top it was made before WWI.
Anyway, over 3 different gun shows I put some of the stuff from the barrel and barn find onto my table. I sold it all and recouped the costs of all of the pewter in the barrel and most of the metal detector. Not bad for a few hours work. Now I have 145 pounds of pewter to melt down. The pieces left are only valuable for their metal content. Still, a very decent and very likely lifetime supply of pewter.
Now, I have to find more lead to mix with the pewter. Storage gets to be cramped with all of the paraphernalia needed to make good cast bullets. Sometime in August, I will be making up some batches. Lead will be in short supply. I have a couple of hundred pounds of wheel weights to mix as well but lead would be better. I do a bit of casting for my Lyman Plains Rifle as well so I need to keep some pure lead around for that.
There are a lot of sources for pewter. Let your computer and telephone do the search for you. Take into account what it costs to ship and or drive to get it. In my case I was just lucky. Often it is just cheaper to buy your bullets from a commercial caster than it is to make up your own. When you factor in the cost of molds, melting pots, smelting, shipping etc. It can be hard to beat the commercial dealers. They usually buy their metal from a commercial smelter and it is clean and mixed to proper proportions for our purposes.
Whatever, it is a learning curve and fun to boot.
The scrap dealer acknowledged there may be some stray junk in there as well and threw in 10 pounds of smelted tin to sweeten the deal. I was more than fine with that and so was he. He didn't have to deal with sending it to a smelter or sell it to another scrap dealer.
All was well.
When I got home, I took the new metal detector I had purchased at the Chilliwack show and went to an old collapsed building I knew of. The owner had given me permission so all was well. I found an aluminum weather vane with a horse and a bunch of pewter cups/plates/utensils and even a beautiful little bank in the shape of a carousel. The carousel base must have been wood because it had rotted away. From the marks inside and the size of the slot on top it was made before WWI.
Anyway, over 3 different gun shows I put some of the stuff from the barrel and barn find onto my table. I sold it all and recouped the costs of all of the pewter in the barrel and most of the metal detector. Not bad for a few hours work. Now I have 145 pounds of pewter to melt down. The pieces left are only valuable for their metal content. Still, a very decent and very likely lifetime supply of pewter.
Now, I have to find more lead to mix with the pewter. Storage gets to be cramped with all of the paraphernalia needed to make good cast bullets. Sometime in August, I will be making up some batches. Lead will be in short supply. I have a couple of hundred pounds of wheel weights to mix as well but lead would be better. I do a bit of casting for my Lyman Plains Rifle as well so I need to keep some pure lead around for that.
There are a lot of sources for pewter. Let your computer and telephone do the search for you. Take into account what it costs to ship and or drive to get it. In my case I was just lucky. Often it is just cheaper to buy your bullets from a commercial caster than it is to make up your own. When you factor in the cost of molds, melting pots, smelting, shipping etc. It can be hard to beat the commercial dealers. They usually buy their metal from a commercial smelter and it is clean and mixed to proper proportions for our purposes.
Whatever, it is a learning curve and fun to boot.
.
At a yard sale on Saturday, I lucked out and picked up a 5 pound bar of Linotype and two pewter beer mugs for $3. There are a lot of places to pick up this stuff if you're willing to stop at a garage/yard sale.
