Tin is and has always been a transformative metal. Among the earliest metals used by humans, tin played a key role in the creation of bronze (an alloy of copper and tin), whose discovery marked a transition away from the more delicate tools of the Stone Age and towards more robust Bronze Age weapons and utensils, around 5,500 years ago. Bronze was significantly harder and more durable than other metals available at the time, and it was tin’s low melting point that made bronze suitable for alloying using pottery kilns, allowing for its accessibility.

Tin gradually fell out of widespread use due to the discovery of iron smelting and the start of the Iron Age. Its next major resurgence came centuries later with the discovery that a thin coating of tin could prevent corrosion on steel – an advantage enhanced by tin’s non-toxic nature and potential anti-microbial properties.

This innovation traces back to 1795 when Napoleon’s French government offered a reward of 12,000 francs to anyone who could devise a reliable method for preserving food for long naval expeditions. Nicolas Appert claimed the prize by developing this method of sterilisation using tin, and in 1810, British merchant Peter Durand received the first patent for preserving food using tin cans – two ground-breaking breakthroughs in food preservation. This technique remains in use today and saw a notable resurgence during the recent Coronavirus pandemic, as people stockpiled non-perishable essentials.

Today, tin’s vital role as a composite metal in solder continues to shift it into evermore critical areas of development. While evidence suggests that soldering was practiced over 5,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), its use expanded dramatically in the mid-20th century with the rise of modern technology.