Nickel Silver - Leimat.fi

Not everything that looks like silver is silver. Nickel silver—also known as alpacca, German silver or new silver—is an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc and contains no silver. This page shows Finnish marks used on nickel-silver and silver-plated objects.

Nickel-silver objects are often silver-plated. Brass and tombac objects can also be plated with silver. The surface may therefore contain real silver even though the object itself is not a precious-metal object.

A silver-coloured base metal

Nickel-silver marks

The appearance of these inscriptions varies. The name of the alloy may be written in full or shown as an abbreviation.

Examples of ALP inscriptions on nickel-silver objects

ALP

ALP is a common abbreviation for alpacca or nickel silver.

X ALP X

The abbreviation ALP may appear with other letters or symbols.

ALPAKKA

The Finnish name of the alloy is written in full.

UH

UH abbreviates the Finnish term uusi hopea, meaning ‘new silver’.

UUSI HOPEA

Uusi hopea, or ‘new silver’, is a trade name for nickel silver. Despite the name, the alloy contains no silver.

PRIMA-UH

A commercial inscription containing the abbreviation UH for new silver.

Examples of an MS inscription on a silver-coloured metal object

MS

An example of an MS inscription on a silver-coloured metal object.

MH

An example of an MH inscription on a silver-coloured metal object.

A silver-plated surface

What does the number 90 mean?

ALP HOPEAKESKUS OY MADE IN FINLAND 90 inscription

90

The number 90 indicates the quantity of silver used for plating, not the silver fineness of the object. It means that a total of 90 grams of fine silver was used to plate a dozen tablespoons and a dozen forks. On a small spoon such as the one shown, the coating contains approximately 1.5 grams of silver.

Mark database

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