Why Is There So Much Antique Tin?
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios

If you've gone to an antique store lately or if you've watched Antique Roadshow, you're probably been baffled by the sheer amount of antique tin—and the prices it brings in. You might wonder why such a seemingly cheap, flimsy metal is so popular among collectors. And there's actually a good explanation for it.

When exposed to the usual corrosive agents, such as salt, water, and oxygen, tin will not corrode. In fact, you could bathe your antique tin angels in sea water every single day, and you would see no signs of corrosion after, say, 50 years—the amount of time it takes to make antique tin. This is primarily why we see so many tin antiques: they last last for about as long as you want them to, barring any outlandish accident, such as an acid spill.

You might still think “so what!” If tin is so cheap and flexible and abundant, why do people want to pay money for antiques made out of it? And that's another part of it: tin is cheap and flexible, which means it is easy for craftsmen to find it—and from there, it's easy to shape it, mold it, and work with it. It also means that is easy to find replacement pieces, if said outlandish accident does happen to occur. It also means that it will be easy for you to fix your antique tin piece. This is another reason why antique tin is both abundant and still in demand.

Since tin is easy to shape, it also has a virtually unlimited amount of uses in terms of craftwork. The most popular uses of tin, however, include small statuary pieces, such as angels and animals; and small birdhouses, as well as drink containers.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, Amazon, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.