German Silver, or When Is Silver Not Silver At All

 Hello!  You know, when a piece of jewelry is stamped with the word silver, you kind of expect it to be silver!  But not so fast, little buckaroo.  There are several silver stamps that include no silver whatsoever.

German silver is actually a mix of copper, zinc, and nickel, with no actual silver content.  It's called German silver because of its silver color, and it's sturdier than actual sterling or fine silver.  It's also known as nickel silver and alpaca silver, which also includes NO alpacas, and is therefore a double misnomer.

Here are some marking and jewelry stamp examples for you:

In my Etsy shop, I currently have one little German silver initial L brooch, with a simple C clasp.

In summation, silver colored!  No silver content!  Sturdier than sterling!  Still very pretty.

Also, the word for silver in German is SILBER!  Alpacas do not have a word for silver!  Thanks for stopping by.  Auf wiedersehen!

Laura and the ottercat