10th Anniversary Gift
The 10th anniversary gift is tin and aluminum on the traditional list and diamond on the modern one. Tin is the old half: the etiquette books of 1888, 1899 and 1922 all gave the 10th to tin, with no aluminum.
10th Anniversary Gift at a glance
| Traditional gift | Tin and aluminum |
|---|---|
| Modern gift | Diamond |
| Gemstone (GIA list) | Diamond (April birthstone) |
| Flower (Emily Post Institute) | Daffodil (March birth flower) |
| Also called | Tin wedding (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913) |
| Married couples who had reached it, 2009 | 67.8% (Census Bureau) |
| Length of marriage | 3,652 or 3,653 days (2 or 3 February 29s) |
GIA: "Diamond is the hardest mineral on earth, so it mirrors the bonds of your love."
Why tin and aluminum for the tenth anniversary?
Tin is a silvery-white metal known since prehistoric times. It is soft and does not tarnish, which made it a favorite for lanterns, candle shields and mirror frames. Bell founders valued it too: the finest-sounding bell metal was about one-fourth tin, the National Park Service notes. Aluminum, the 10th's other metal, was once a luxury. In 1884 it cost $1.10 an ounce, as much as silver, and an aluminum tip was set atop the Washington Monument. Charles Martin Hall's 1886 process made it cheap.
Nineteenth-century tin weddings could be lavish. Living History Farms in Iowa quotes period newspapers, including Winterset's Weekly Madisonian in 1874. At one party, over a hundred guests "drank coffee out of tin cups" and ate ice cream from tin saucers. Tinsmiths made tin top hats, slippers, fans, pipes and jewelry for these parties.
Anodized aluminum and lab-grown diamond labels
- If the aluminum gift is cookware, choose anodized. Clemson Extension says the anodized finish prevents reactions with acidic foods, such as tomato sauce, wine and lemon juice.
- For colored aluminum, look for an anodized finish. Anodizing is an electrochemical bath that leaves a tough oxide coat and can add color, the National Park Service explains.
- Check that a lab-made diamond says so. The FTC says calling it just a "diamond" would likely mislead. Words like "laboratory-grown" or "laboratory-created" should appear close to the word.
- Ask for a report from an independent lab. GIA says lab-grown diamonds are essentially the same as natural ones, chemically and optically, so telling them apart takes advanced testing.
10th anniversary gift ideas
- A tin keepsake box filled with notes from ten years
- A favorite photo printed on aluminum
- A vintage tin sign with your wedding date
- Diamond jewelry, from a small pendant to earrings (modern)
When is your 10 year wedding anniversary?
More date tools: Anniversary Calculator, Birthday Calendar, What Day Was I Born.
Anniversary gifts for other years
10th Anniversary Gift questions
What is the 10 year anniversary gift?
Tin and aluminum, or diamond for a modern gift. Tin was not meant to be taken seriously: Emily Post wrote in 1922 that "the paper, wooden and tin wedding presents are seldom anything but jokes."
Are tin anniversary gifts really made of tin?
Usually only on the surface. Tin is soft, so it is mostly used as a thin coat on iron or steel, called tinplate. Iron sheets were first coated with tin in Bohemia in the 14th or 15th century, the National Park Service says. Pure tin is rare and mostly limited to small objects.
Published October 9, 2026. Last updated October 29, 2026.