nickel silver

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Nickel silver was first used in China, where it was smelted from readily available unprocessed ore.{{cite book |last1 = Oberg | first1 = Erik | last2= Jones |first2= Franklin Day |year = 1917 |title = Machinery's Encyclopedia |publisher = The Industrial Press |page = 412 |quote = The alloy came originally from China, where its composition is said to have been known. |url = https://archive.org/details/machinerysencyc00jonegoog }} During the Qing dynasty, it was "smuggled into various parts of the East Indies", despite a government ban on the export of nickel silver.{{cite book |last = Dana |first = James Dwight |year = 1869 |title = Manual of Mineralogy |page = 265 |quote = smuggled into various parts of the East Indies ... and is not allowed to be carried out of the empire}} It became known in the West from imported wares called {{Transliteration|cmn|baitong}} (Mandarin) or {{Transliteration|yue|paktong}} (Cantonese) (白 銅, literally "white copper"), for which the silvery metal colour was used to imitate sterling silver. According to Berthold Laufer, it was identical to khar sini, one of the seven metals recognized by Jābir ibn Hayyān.{{cite book |last = Holmyard |first = E.J. |year = 1957 |title = Alchemy |page = 80 |place = New York, NY |publisher = Dover }}

In Europe, consequently, it was at first called {{Transliteration|yue|paktong}}, which is about the way {{Transliteration|cmn|baitong}} is pronounced in the Cantonese dialect. The earliest European mention of {{Transliteration|yue|paktong}} occurs in the year 1597. From then until the end of the eighteenth century there are references to it as having been exported from Canton to Europe.{{cite book |first = Derk |last = Bodde |author-link=Derk Bodde |title=China's gifts to the West |publisher=Columbia University |place = New York, NY |url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/readings/inventions_gifts.htm#Minerals }}

German artificial recreation of the natural {{Transliteration|yue|paktong}} ore composition, however, began to appear from about 1750 onward. In 1770, the Suhl metalworks were able to produce a similar alloy.{{cite book | author = Neumann, Bernhard | year = 1904 | title = Die Metalle: Geschichte, Vorkommen und Gewinnung, nebst ausführlicher Produktions - und Preis - Statistik. Vom "Verein zur Beförderung des Gewerbefleisses" preisgekrönte Arbeit | publisher = W. Knapp | isbn = 9785877316324 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vBFKAAAAMAAJ | page =327 }} In 1823, a German competition was held to perfect the production process: the goal was to develop an alloy that possessed the closest visual similarity to silver. The brothers Henniger in Berlin and Ernst August Geitner in Schneeberg independently achieved this goal. The manufacturer Berndorf (founded in 1843{{Cite web |title=Geschichte |url=https://www.berndorf.at/geschichte |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=Berndorf |language=de}}) named the trademark brand Alpacca, which became widely known in northern Europe for nickel silver. In 1830, the German process of manufacture was introduced into England, while exports of {{Transliteration|yue|paktong}} from China gradually stopped. In 1832, a form of German silver was also developed in Birmingham, England.{{cite journal | last1 = Neumann | first1 = B. | year = 1903 | title = Die Anfänge der Argentan- (Neusilber)-Industrie und der technischen Nickelerzeugung | journal = Zeitschrift für Angewandte Chemie | volume = 16 | issue = 10 | page = 225 | doi = 10.1002/ange.19030161004 | bibcode = 1903AngCh..16..225N | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1424435 }}

After the modern process for the production of electroplated nickel silver was patented in 1840 by George Richards Elkington and his cousin Henry Elkington in Birmingham, the development of electroplating caused nickel silver to become widely used. It formed an ideal, strong and bright substrate for the plating process. It was also used unplated in applications such as cutlery.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

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Nickel silver first became popular as a base metal for silver-plated cutlery and other silverware, notably the electroplated wares called EPNS (electroplated nickel silver). It is used in zippers, costume jewelry, for making musical instruments (e.g., flutes, clarinets), and is preferred for the track in electric model railway layouts, as its oxide is conductive{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}. Better quality keys and lock cylinder pins are made of nickel silver for durability under heavy use. The alloy has been widely used in the production of coins (e.g. Portuguese escudo and the former GDR marks). Its industrial and technical uses include marine fittings and plumbing fixtures for its corrosion resistance, and heating coils for its high electrical resistance.

In the nineteenth century, particularly after 1868, North American Plains Indian metalsmiths were able to easily acquire sheets of German silver. They used them to cut, stamp, and cold hammer a wide range of accessories and also horse gear. Presently, Plains metalsmiths use German silver for pendants, pectorals, bracelets, armbands, hair plates, conchas (oval decorative plates for belts), earrings, belt buckles, necktie slides, stickpins, dush-tuhs, and tiaras.Dubin, Lois Sherr. North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: From Prehistory to the Present. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999. {{ISBN|0-8109-3689-5}}., pp. 290–293. Nickel silver is the metal of choice among contemporary Kiowa and Pawnee in Oklahoma. Many of the metal fittings on modern higher-end equine harness and tack are of nickel silver.

Early in the twentieth century, German silver was used by automobile manufacturers before the advent of steel sheet metal. For example, the famous Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost of 1907 used German silver. After about 1920, it became widely used for pocketknife bolsters, due to its machinability and corrosion resistance. Prior to this, the most common metal was iron.

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Musical instruments, including the flute, saxophone, trumpet, and French horn, string instrument frets, and electric guitar pickup parts, can be made of nickel silver. Many professional-level French horns are entirely made of nickel silver.[http://www.cgconn.com/content/detail.php?model=8D] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210141018/http://www.cgconn.com/content/detail.php?model=8D|date=10 February 2012}} Some saxophone manufacturers, such as Keilwerth,[http://www.schreiber-keilwerth.com/englisch/keilwerth/instruments/bari_sx90r_shadow.htm]{{dead link|date=December 2013}}[http://www.saxophones.co.uk/keilwerth_saxophones.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081104122329/http://www.saxophones.co.uk/keilwerth_saxophones.htm|date=4 November 2008}} offer saxophones made of nickel silver (Shadow model); these are far rarer than traditional lacquered brass saxophones. Student-level flutes and piccolos are also made of silver-plated nickel silver,[http://www.pearlflute.com/_english/pro_quantz505.html Quantz505 – Pearl Flute Worldwide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207023442/http://www.pearlflute.com/_english/pro_quantz505.html |date=7 February 2012 }}. Pearlflute.com. Retrieved on 2013-12-19. although upper-level models are likely to use sterling silver.[http://www.pearlflute.com/_english/pro_elegante.html Elegante – Pearl Flute Worldwide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207023508/http://www.pearlflute.com/_english/pro_elegante.html |date=7 February 2012 }}. Pearlflute.com. Retrieved on 2013-12-19. Nickel silver produces a bright and powerful sound quality; an additional benefit is that the metal is harder and more corrosion resistant than brass.[http://www.holton-horns.com/frenchhorns/product.php?model=H-177] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006061951/http://www.holton-horns.com/frenchhorns/product.php?model=H-177|date=6 October 2011}} Because of its hardness, it is used for most clarinet, flute, oboe and similar wind instrument keys, normally silver-plated. It is used to produce the tubes (called staples) onto which oboe reeds are tied.

Many parts of brass instruments are made of nickel silver, such as tubes, braces or valve mechanism. Trombone slides of many manufacturers offer a lightweight nickel silver (LT slide) option for faster slide action and weight balance.[http://www.bachbrass.com/instruments/product.php?model=LT16M&category=Trombones Bach > Professional Bb Tenor Trombones > Viewing Model LT16M] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016134120/http://www.bachbrass.com/instruments/product.php?model=LT16M&category=Trombones |date=16 October 2011 }}. Bachbrass.com. Retrieved on 2013-12-19. The material was used in the construction of the National tricone resophonic guitar. The frets of guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass, and related string instruments are typically nickel silver. Nickel silver is sometimes used as ornamentation on the great highland bagpipe.

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Nickel silver is also used in artworks. The Dutch sculptor Willem Lenssinck has made several pieces from German silver. Outdoors art made from this material easily withstands all kinds of weather.

• Argentium sterling silver
• Britannia silver
• Britannia metal
• Cupronickel
• Sheffield plate
• Nickel Directive
• List of named alloys

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{{EB1911 poster|German Silver}}

• {{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=German Silver|short=x}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160305074311/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/home-garden//1983/05/05/considering-silvers-sterling-qualities-price-is-no-object/1ad85ec0-2a20-4543-92bf-c0df898c1d37/ Silver's Sterling Qualities]

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Category:Chinese inventions

Category:Copper alloys

Category:Nickel alloys

Category:Economy of the Qing dynasty

Category:Silver