By Alan Herbert, Coins Magazine November 10, 2009

Before getting into this month’s topic, I need to answer the question: Is it possible to have an allergy to coins?

An allergy to nickel is well known in the hobby, but not by the general public and even some doctors. The effect is cumulative and can cause dermatitis within one hour of handling nickel-alloy coins. The point is raised because there are mostly unfounded rumors about other metals causing problems.

The key question this month is about “nickel-silver.” For many years they called it “German silver.” They made the switch from calling the alloy German silver to nickel-silver during World War I when anything German was unpopular.

However, even with the common usage changed, the old term for the nickel-silver alloy never was completely eradicated and still is used today. Nickel-silver is probably the most popular of the two terms. The term German silver was introduced in 1830 when a German brought the first sample of the alloy to Sheffield, England. The alloy invention is laid at the door of the Chinese at some much earlier date.

Apparently it became a very popular alloy with the Chinese, who logically used it for coins. The names for the alloy varied. One listing is for paktong, or packtong. Paktong or packtong is the Cantonese pronunciation of pewter (literally, white copper), and in this case the alloy is a mixture of nickel, zinc and copper, quite similar to German silver. It’s also spelled as packfong. The specifications for the Chinese alloy known as peitung lists it as a copper alloy containing 62 percent copper, 23 percent zinc and 15 percent nickel.

In Western culture, German silver, or nickel-silver, are the common names of an alloy of 65 percent copper, 23 percent zinc and 12 percent nickel. Unfortunately it sometimes takes a considerable amount of time to convince someone that his nickel-silver coin doesn’t even contain one drop of silver.

But, what about “argentan”? Most references list argentan as an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc. Both “maillechort” and argentan thus are names for nickel alloys.

However, the Swiss government adopted a modified argentan alloy in 1850, containing from 5 to 15 percent silver. There were three versions—5 percent for the five rappen, 10 percent for the 10 rappen and 15 percent for the 20 rappen. The resulting alloy, which contained silver equal to the face value of the coin, was much too hard.

Experiments were made with less nickel, but the coins were a reddish color. Needless to say, nickel and silver do not mix well.

Sweden also had “billon” coins that contained copper, nickel and zinc in addition to the minority amount of silver. Now, why does that sound like nickel-silver?

A “12 percent alloy” nickel-silver is just a different combination of the basic German silver alloy, the 12 percent alloy containing 12 percent nickel, 18 percent zinc and 70 percent copper. The Netherlands (Curacao) five-cent piece of 1943 struck in the United States was described by the Mint as 12 percent nickel-silver.

So, no matter what name you call it, with the lone exception of the Swiss and Swedish coins, it’s still a copper alloy, without the slightest trace of silver. Really, it’s just another example of the language problems people create for themselves. Besides its mislabeling, like the cent being called a “copper” coin, the silver-colored nickel is usually referred to as a “nickel” coin despite having more copper than nickel in the alloy. Both are alloys, but you’d never know it from listening to people talk about them.

There are a couple of other points about (real) silver that fit our discussion. For instance, what is the difference between “base silver” and “silver base”? You may never have heard of the latter. The difference is a fraction of a percentage point.

Base silver is an alloy containing less than 50 percent silver, while a silver base alloy contains at least 50 percent silver. Base silver is also called billon, and some sources claim that unless a silver base alloy is used for a coin it cannot be called a silver coin. This doesn’t seem to bother most numismatists. Black billon is an alloy of 75 percent copper and 25 percent silver, noted for tarnishing to an ugly blackish color at a moment’s notice.

More Resources:

• Ultimate Standard Catalog of World Coins 5-CD Set (1600-Present)

• 2010 U.S. Coin Digest, The Complete Guide to Current Market Values

• Standard Guide to Small-Size U.S. Paper Money, 1928 to Date