Tin, the Metal of Jupiter

Tin is the metal of Jupiter in the classical scheme, and of the seven pairings it is the least self-evident, resting more on the logic of the system than on any obvious resemblance. The alchemists knew tin as Jupiter and gave it the planet's symbol; alchemically it was regarded as a relatively soft, low and imperfect metal, and its distinctive property is the faint creaking sound, the tin cry, made when a bar is bent, caused by the crystal structure deforming.

Tin's true historical importance is as the essential alloying metal: added to copper it makes bronze, the alloy that names an age and that armed and equipped the ancient world, and the long-distance trade in tin, from Cornwall and elsewhere to the metal-working centres of the Mediterranean, was one of the earliest large-scale commodity networks. Jupiter's associations of expansion, abundance and benevolence attach to tin in the astrological-alchemical tradition, though tin's humble practical character makes it one of the quieter members of the planetary seven.