Sheffield plate silver

Sheffield plate silver is copper with a thin coating of silver. Close plating involves silver foil over iron or steel. German silver actually contains no silver. It is composed of 50% copper, 25% nickel, and 25% zinc, and is often used as a base for electroplating. Paktong is a similar form of nickel-silver that originated in China, for which the ratios of the metals is uncertain. 

When fully established the Sheffield plate industry was concerned mainly with the production of fairly large articles these were frequently copies of genuine silver wares under the name of holloware . 

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