Home » Beading Definition: Nickel Silver
Nickel Silver
Nickel silver, also known as German Silver, although silvery in appearance, contains NO real silver. It is an alloy of approximately 65% copper with nickel, in addition zinc is often added, and sometimes antimony, tin, lead or cadmium. Some nickel silver alloys, usually those containing high proportions of zinc, are stainless (corrosion-resistant).
The United States “nickel,” a coin representing 5 cents in value, is made of 75% copper and 25% nickel.
Nickel silver became widely popular in the Western world after 1840 as a base metal for silver plated silverware. It is currently often used in inexpensive jewelry, in zippers, better quality keys, and musical instruments, among other items.
Those allergic to Nickel should avoid jewelry made of Nickel Silver, aka German Silver . According to the Merck Manual 17th edition p56, prolonged contact of copper alloys with acidic food or beverages (including boiling milk) can leach out the copper and cause toxicity. Long term, low doses can lead to cirrhosis. It should be of interest that cadmium is known to cause renal failure.
Nickel silver was first imported from China, and was known in the west as Paktong or Pakfong (literally "white copper") where the silvery metal colour was used to imitate sterling silver. It was discovered to be a copper-nickel-zinc alloy in the 18th century. At this point, various metalworks in Germany began to compete to produce a similar alloy, with the closest possible appearance to real silver. At least three different German companies arrived at successful formulae. A form of German Silver was also invented in Birmingham, England in 1832.
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