What is the Metal Under Silver Plated Flatware?

Question: Is all silver plated flatware brass underneath? From Estella in Grand Rapids, MI

Hi Estella,

Thanks for your question. Not all silver plated flatware is brass underneath. Silver plated flatware will usually be copper based (like brass) or nickel based. Usually flatware is not a pure copper base, as copper is too weak. Brass is actually an alloy of copper and zinc. Most often scrap metal yards will purchase brass plated flatware for the copper.

Flatware made with nickel is worth more than flatware made with copper. Pure nickel under silver plate is an older plating method and rarely used anymore. If you have pure nickel plated flatware, we would guess that you have older flatware that may be worth more as antiques than for the scrap nickel value. Nickel is magnetic, whereas sterling silver, copper brass and cupronickel (below) are not.

There is also cupronickel which is an alloy of copper and nickel. There are different grades or alloys of cupronickel. If you have a high percentage of nickel compared to the copper, try to sell to a scrap dealer for the nickel value. Some may just give you the brass price.

Scrap Metal Junkie is a website that we found that comments about scrap metal like we do about precious metals. If you think that your items could be sterling silver (not plated), then a precious metal refiner could be the right fit for you.

*Images displayed are only a representation of the items described in this blog post and may not be true images of the items in question.

While we are happy to give estimates on precious metal items, we are NOT antiques dealers, researchers, or retail sellers. As a precious metal refiner, we only consider the weight and amount of precious metal available to extract during the smelting and refining process.

Tags: scrap silver, silver plate

This entry was posted on Monday, January 30th, 2012 at 3:16 pm. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.