How to identify Pewter?

I stopped into a thrift store today and bought one piece of pewter and another I think may be pewter that is silver over copper plated. It is a non magnetic oval tray about 10" X 7" and is 3/16" thick and weighs 1.1 pounds. If it is pewter with copper and silver plateing will it alloy with lead or will the silver and copper float to the top? I know some pewter contains a small percent of copper but do not know if it will alloy without a special flux.
How can one tell if a piece is made of pewter if nothing is written on the piece?
Thanks for your replies.

The most common things that get confused with pewter are zinc and aluminum. The amounts of copper and/or silver in the pewter are so small that they don't have any real effect. I've used up lots of damaged pewter as a tin source, never had a problem, and I have a stash of pewter ingots. The best way to tell what it is: see what it takes to melt it. If you've passed 800* and it's still solid, it's aluminim or zinc. Like pewter, aluminum is very soft and scratches easily, zinc is not and doesn't. If it's fairly old pewter, it may have a good percentage of lead in it, in which case it will leave a line on a sheet of white paper. I have never seen or heard of plated pewter, but who knows what's out there. Silver is often plated over copper onto a brass base though.

are license plate metal frames zinc? it takes a lot to melt them .. trying to make zinc ingots from sources of ww's and dont want to mix my metals up ...,, ps i too have a difficult time telling pewter from aluminum and zinc ill try the melting temp method also zinc will not mix well at a 50/50 concentrate of lead zinc so if it is oatmeal like it has zinc just mix an ounce of each with a torch

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Originally Posted by versifier

The most common things that get confused with pewter are zinc and aluminum. The amounts of copper and/or silver in the pewter are so small that they don't have any real effect. I've used up lots of damaged pewter as a tin source, never had a problem, and I have a stash of pewter ingots. The best way to tell what it is: see what it takes to melt it. If you've passed 800* and it's still solid, it's aluminim or zinc. Like pewter, aluminum is very soft and scratches easily, zinc is not and doesn't. If it's fairly old pewter, it may have a good percentage of lead in it, in which case it will leave a line on a sheet of white paper. I have never seen or heard of plated pewter, but who knows what's out there. Silver is often plated over copper onto a brass base though.

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Thanks for that.
It is way too heavy to be aluminum. I checked wikipedia and they did plate pewter with silver it seems so I guess I will just have to melt it and see.

baddbobgerman,
I don't know, I have only had one smelterful of WW's get contaminated by zinc. I got a phone call and missed the crucial point when the clips rose in the melt with the zinc weights. No good for casting and I disposed of it. When in doubt I just toss any suspected WW's - if I have time, I try a scratch test, but mostly I just look for riveted clips.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by versifier

baddbobgerman,
I don't know, I have only had one smelterful of WW's get contaminated by zinc. I got a phone call and missed the crucial point when the clips rose in the melt with the zinc weights. No good for casting and I disposed of it. When in doubt I just toss any suspected WW's - if I have time, I try a scratch test, but mostly I just look for riveted clips.

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use a pair of pliars or a sidecutter the lead will dent or mash down the zinc will scratch only the paint , some zinc will not have a rivet... most "fe" or iron , wil be riveted...... good shootin

some items such as teapots, sugar bowls and creamers can indeed be silver plated tin/pewter , the bend test comes to mind , pure tin has it's own unique "shriek" when bent , various pewters alloyed with copper, antimony and even lead of course all help mute this shriek , alot of the more modern stuff is often plated zinc - it wont bend for umm very easy and often will break , real pewter on the other hand bends even easier than aluminum , there is at least one company who states that they use a lil bit of silver in their cast boolits , IMHO it helps a bit with fill out and malleability , it just isnt economical to use ( especially with the silver prices lately ) i like to melt each piece down separately , once it's passed the heat melt test it's usually ok to mix it with other known good pewter , pewter melts at 440 - 470 degrees and dosnt react to hydrochloric acid the way zinc would
here's a couple of good links for further reading

http://www.princeaugust.ie/alloys/

http://www.ramshornstudio.com/pewter.htm

I have a very old piece that broke it states silver plated I attempted to solder it with 60-40 solder and the core melted before the solder? It must be tin with the weight and low melting point but will break if bent about 20 degrees? (it is/was a complicated candle holder that held a crucifix the cross is silver there is no country of origin on it)