I can add this to the conversation about Bilon: I read a letter or
article somewhere, written by Durrell Armstrong, owner of the Player
Piano Company (PPCo), about it.  I can't remember the exact details,
but he wrote that Bilon became brittle and disintegrated within a short
period.  I can't say whether that was the very first batch or just some
of it or what the details were.

Durrell wrote that he had to refund many customers their money
because of this and that the reputation of the stuff became toxic.
Nobody wanted to buy it, although the problems were remedied.
Apparently he sat on it for a long period of time, and it caused him a
huge financial loss.

Maybe someone has a copy of Durrell's report and can post it here on
the MMD?

Bernt Damm
Sydney, Australia