Nickel silver, maillechort, German silver,[1] argentan,[1] new silver,[1] nickel brass,[2] albata,[3] or alpacca[4] is a cupronickel (copper with nickel) alloy with the addition of zinc. The usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc.[5] Nickel silver does not contain the element silver. It is named for its silvery appearance, which can make it attractive as a cheaper and more durable substitute. It is also well suited for being plated with silver.
A naturally occurring ore composition in China was smelted into the alloy known as paktong or báitóng (白銅) ('white copper' or cupronickel).[citation needed][6][7] The name German Silver refers to the artificial recreation of the natural ore composition by German metallurgists.[8] All modern, commercially important, nickel silvers (such as those standardized under ASTM B122) contain zinc and are sometimes considered a subset of brass.[9]
- ^ a b c Principles of Metallurgy. Forgotten Books. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-4400-5699-4.
- ^ Gayle, Margot; Look, David W.; Waite, John G. (April 1993). "Pt. 1, A Historical Survey of Metals; Pt. 2, Deterioration and Methods of Preserving Metals". Metals in America's Historic Buildings: Uses and preservation 5reatments. Cultural Resources, Preservation Assistance. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-16-061655-6 – via Google books.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary
- ^ "Marks of Alpacca and Alpacca-Silver II products". Association of Small Collectors of Antique Silver (ASCAS) (Ascasonline.org). Marks of Berndorf Metalware Factory in Austria. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
- ^ McCreight, Tim. The Complete Metalsmith.
- ^ Pinn, Keith. Paktong: The Chinese alloy in Europe.
- ^ Needham, Joseph; Wang, Ling; Lu, Gwei-Djen; Tsien, Tsuen-hsuin; Kuhn, Dieter; Golas, Peter J. (1974). Science and Civilisation in China. Cambridge University Press. pp. 237–250. ISBN 0-521-08571-3.
- ^ Rosenberg, Samuel J. Nickel and its alloys. Monograph. Vol. 106. National Bureau of Standards. p. 8.6.
- ^ "Nickel Silver". makeitfrom.com. Retrieved 19 April 2010.