Pewter of the Bronze Age in the Near East. The earliest piece of pewter found is from an Egyptian tomb from 1450 BC. The constituents of pewter were first controlled in the 12th century by town guilds in France. By the 15th century, the Worshipful Company of Pewterers controlled pewter constituents in England. This company originally had two grades of pewter, but in the 16th century a third grade was added. The first type, known as "fine metal", was used for tableware. It consisted of tin with as much copper as it could absorb, which is about 1%. The second type,
Metal theft in the United Kingdom Metal theft in the United Kingdom Metal theft in the United Kingdom is the systematic and organised theft of high-value metal (mostly copper) in the United Kingdom. Metal theft in the UK is largely the responsibility of the British Transport Police (BTP). Metal recycling traders can be traced by Trading Standards, regulated by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. Most metal theft in the UK is classed as non-domestic burglary. In the year to March 2016, according to the ONS, there were 16,155 metal theft offences across the UK's 42 police forces, a significant decrease of 38% over the previous year.