The Tin Isles

The British Isles have been known as a source for tin since ancient times. With the invention of bronze, an alloy of tin and copper, tin became a strategic metal of great importance. Great deposits of copper, lead, zinc, and iron also played an important part in the history of the British Isles.

The specimens in this exhibit are from the collection of W.W. Jefferis, a prominent nineteenth century eastern Pennsylvania naturalist and collector with a fondness for minerals from England.

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