Tin-coated printed circuit boards with low tendency to whisker formation

A coated article comprising:

• (i) at least one electrically non-conductive base layer,
• (ii) at least one layer of at least one of copper and a copper alloy, and
• (iii) a tin-containing layer, wherein the layer (ii) is positioned between the layer (i) and the layer (iii), characterized in that the tin-containing layer (iii) contains at least one other metal which is selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Zr, Mn, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au, Zn, Ga, In, Ge, Sb, and Bi and at least one organic additive and wherein the concentration of the other metal varies over the thickness of the layer (iii) and wherein the concentration of the at least one other metal at the interface of layer (ii) and layer (iii) is lower than in a sublayer of the layer (iii) lying away from the interface of layer (ii) and layer (iii).