Collecting pewter, especially antique pewter, which is the specialty of most members of the Pewter Society is fun, intellectually stimulating and most importantly, satisfying.

It has a wide scope and collectors can specialise in types or styles, periods or origins or, like many, have lots of different pieces because of the pure fascination with the subject.

And, it doesn’t have to be expensive to start and enlarge a pewter collection. Many start with 19th century pub tankards and measures, which can still be readily obtained at moderate cost from antiques shops, regional antiques fairs, charity shops ,car boot sales and auctions. Others may prefer the often ornate Victorian style of teapots and tableware made from Britannia metal, a form of pewter used extensively during that period.

What is sure is that the more one becomes involved with this fascinating metal, the more one wants to learn and the wider one’s interest grows, especially in the social or commercial context of individual items.

There is a wealth of reference material available and books have been published on all aspects of pewter and its associations. The aspiring collector should progressively read as much as possible – see our suggested reading list https://www.pewtersociety.org/pewter-society/reading-list– and take every opportunity to handle pewter at auctions, fairs and, of course at Pewter Society meetings.