Walk into any antique store, browse a couple of antique catalogs, tune in to the TV and catch an antique appreciation show and you will see antique tins everywhere. You would probably wonder what it is about tin that makes it so popular with antique collectors. There is probably a good explanation to it.

To begin with, tin resists the elements very well. Water and oxygen, the combination that will easily rust the strongest of steel, will do nothing to tin. If the mob were to sink a guy they didn’t like into the East River, you could pull him out 50 years later and the only thing intact would be his tin cigarette box (if he smoked that is). So now you can see why there are so many antique tin collectibles. Tin items last a long time and when something lasts as long, they become antiques. They become rare collectibles when they have been out of production for about 50 years or so.

So what? If tin lasts a long time and tin items of the last few decades are still available today, why would people fork out big dollars for these antiques? For one thing, tin is easy to shape so craftsmen of long ago loved to shape them into some interesting pieces. Anything antique that was handmade would fetch a good price no matter what it was made of. Since tin is easy to work with, replacement pieces can be easily made today. If a collector paid for a three-wheeled tin racing car, he could easily send it to an expert to restore the missing wheel. These are just some of the reasons why tin antiques are so collectible.

Tin items are also rarely produced today. Big corporations still make tin cans but rely more on aluminum than tin. Containers and toys are being made with plastic more and more since plastics use standardized moldings that make mass production a breeze. With the combination of limited production, handmade quality and a long lifespan, it is no surprise that tin items are one of the most collectible items today.

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Source: www.isnare.com