Did you know nickel silver contains no silver?

It's also known as "German Silver"....doesn't all come from Germany....What gives it the silver color is nickel, hence the name.

Wikipedia says:

There are many different formulations of alloys which fall within the general term of "Nickel Silver". All contain copper and nickel, while some formulations may additionally include zinc, antimony, tin, lead or cadmium. A representative industrial formulation (Alloy No.752) is 65% copper, 18% nickel, 17% zinc. In metallurgical science, such alloys would be more properly termed nickel brass.

Some nickel silver alloys, especially those containing high proportions of zinc, are stainless.

Nickel-silver alloys are commonly named by listing their percentages of copper and nickel, thus "Nickel Silver 55-18" would contain 55% copper, 18% nickel, and 27% other elements, most probably entirely zinc. A two-element alloy may be named for its nickel content alone, thus NS-12 is 88% copper and 12% nickel.
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-d
 
A.G. Russell and others mention it pretty often

It's an alloy containing no silver.
 
physh said:
talk about a misleading name.
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Yes, and after finishing the NS hardware on a knife it doesn't take long at all for the copper contained therein to show itself (only a few weeks at most). I have started to use 416 stainless in place of it, not only does it look better it is also less expensive than NS
 
The only real problem with NS is that their is a bunch of low grade on the market.If the Nickel content is less than 18% it will tarnish to a light gold color quick.good quality will not do this but it will dull after a long time on a shelf.

Sterling or coin silver is real silver but the NS is tougher.Yes Stainless is even stronger and cheaper to buy.but it just doesnt have the look and feel of the NS or Silver...You can buy Faux gold also and guess what it is----Brass ----Plain and simple,I checked it out and the chemical breakdown of it is just brass not even bronze.

Bruce
 
Of course, doesn't every one? Faux gold, also known as jewelers bronze contains silicon. I don't know what else. It is beautiful however. But it tarnishes quickly. I have two NS bars, 1/4"x2'x36". That I've had for years. High grade. 18 percent of higher, but I no longer use it. Any one need it? Mike
 
I have nickel silver in different size bars purchased at different times from different suppliers. Most of it has stayed silver over the years, however one batch has turned a brass color. Yes, it's the size that I like to use the most. I use it on knives for friends. I'm just about out of that batch though. Mostly good stuff left now.
 
Michael Lovett said:
Of course, doesn't every one? Faux gold, also known as jewelers bronze contains silicon. I don't know what else. It is beautiful however. But it tarnishes quickly. I have two NS bars, 1/4"x2'x36". That I've had for years. High grade. 18 percent of higher, but I no longer use it. Any one need it? Mike
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I'm interested... how much for them both?
 
See back in those days they didnt have telesales so they had to mislead the customer by the name of the product!
 
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