A collodion positive made on a thin sheet of iron coated with black lacquer. Despite the name, no tin is used. It is also called a ferrotype. The process was patented in the United States in 1856.
Tintypes were cheap, fast and hard to break, so they were very popular for portraits, especially during the American Civil War and at fairs and beaches. Each tintype is a one-of-a-kind image. See also wet plate collodion.
