Talk:Tin

Multiple links to The Color of Art Pigment Database

The reason for this is that the site helpfully makes it possible for a link to take the person directly to the pigment in question. I think that this is more efficient, versus having fewer links to the site in the Pigments section. 107.77.209.172 (talk) 19:25, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

Edit request

Can someone add “for the compound, see titanium nitride” below “stannum redirects here” 24.55.33.220 (talk) 02:41, 22 August 2024 (UTC)

 Done. Rasnaboy (talk) 04:05, 22 August 2024 (UTC)

Foil

"Tinfoil" is a relatively common word. It now almost always means "aluminum foil". Was it once very common to use foil made of actual 100% tin, for ordinary household purposes? Or has household foil always been aluminum? TooManyFingers (talk) 20:42, 15 June 2025 (UTC)

Better spelled "tin foil", but yes. It's extremely strange that this article does not have the word "foil" in it anywhere, when tin foil (later replaced by the alumin[i]um kind, which is also "alumin[i]um foil" not "alumin[i]umfoil") was the most frequent use of tin for generations, and the best known to the general public, being such a part of daily life (in industrialized countries, anyway) that most English-speakers over a certain age still call alumin[i]um foil "tin foil". The foil industry being missing from this article is a really serious oversight.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  23:31, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

History section missing early trade and later industry (in and beyond Europe and the Near East)

The history section needs more information on early trade in tin and its importance and uses. For one thing, southern Britain was an important early-middle Bronze Age through Classical era souce of tin for much of Europe (maybe further; I would have to look into that). It was Britain's most important export commodity in that period, the prime mover of commerce between Britain and elsewhere. Seizing control of that resource was a major motivation for the Roman invasion of Britain.

Strangely, even our Tin mining in Britain article is missing most of the relevant information. While the details should go there, this Tin summary article should in turn summarize them (perhaps in little more detail than I've given above, before moving on to other early tin-trade content (Near East, Asia, etc.). The Tin#History section is simply devoid of all of this; the "History" is pretty much empty of any detail, and just begins in the Bronze Age vaguely, makes nearly-as-vague mention of "the Near East" briefly, then ends with minerological material.

That whole section fails to provide a history, as it's also missing anything at all about post-classical mining and uses, from medieval, renaissance, early modern and modern eras, to use European periodicity. But this topic also pertains to other parts of the world, including more than just Eurasia but anywhere that tin has been an important resource.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  23:46, 18 December 2025 (UTC)