The Material
Facts
• Appearance: silver-shiny, grey
• Pewter belongs to the Group of non-ferrous metals (such as copper, zinc, nickel, brass, bronze,...)
• Melting point is 232°C
• chem. symbol "Sn" (latin Stannum)
• good alloy ability (eg. copper + tin=bronze)
• tasteless and odorless
• food safe
• very soft
• poor conductor for heat and electricity (Drinks in pewter cups keep the temperature for a long time)
• resistant to atmospheric and chemical agents (i.e. no rust like iron, or verdigris on copper)
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Tin is a fascinating material that is known since 3500 bc. Earliest finds around 1500 bc in an Egyptian tomb.In earliest antiquity, tin mainly served as an alloying element for copper for the production of bronze and gave an entire period its name - Bronze Age.The storage of medicines in tin-containers was widespread. Also the Romans loved to drink their wines from pewter-cups.Plinius, a Roman poet, wrote, that the taste of wine intensifies in pewter-cups. This statement still holds true today!In the middle of the 19th century, tin became very important with the industrial production of tinplate (=tin plated iron sheet). Today, pewter is mainly used as a sustainable solder (for theautomotiv- and electronic-industries), for the manufacture of food packaging or ingredient in toothpastes, perfumes and soaps.
Tin is thus an inseparable part of today´s modern life!
Resources
As a pure metal, tin occurs only very rarely. You will find it as "Bergzinn" associated with other rocks or superficially deposited as "Seifenzinn". Tin ("cassiterite") is mined in comparatively very low concentration (comparison: iron ore 40%; tin 0.4 - 1%). To free the tin from other materials, long-term processes are needed. The rock goes through rolling mills, ball mills, is mixed with water, heated and cleaned. Only then it may be further processed. The largest flow rates today are in China, Indonesia and Peru. Due to the increasing annual demand of tin (automotive- and electronic-industry) further price increases are expected. Each ARTINA article is made of a tin alloy with at least 95% tin. We confirm this with our touchmark (trademark) on each individual item - It is thus guarantee and safety at the same time.