posted 05-14-2007 09:53 PM            

I've got two pieces of flatware made by different companies other than Daniel & Arter that are marked "aluminum silver". I realize that Daniel & Arter made flatware using this term from an alloy that contained neither aluminum nor silver.

The first piece is a berry spoon made by International Silver. It is in the Daisy 1886 pattern. The spoon is marked on the back with two fields. One says "PAT MAY 88". The other says "ALUMINUM SILVER". The metal has a color and luster unlike any I have ever seen before. It does not tarnish.

Here is a picture of the spoon (sorry for the quality):

For comparison, here is a picture (courtesy replacements.com) of the Daisy 1886 pattern:

I also have a serving knife of some sort that has the following text on the back: "ALUMINUM SILVER METAL CO.". It appears to be made of the same metal as the spoon. The company name is not one I've ever heard of before, and have not found in my research on the net so far. I don't physically have this knife yet (it should arrive in the next day or so), but I do have pictures of it, front and back:

I have found a few references from the late 1800s documenting the use of a genuine aluminum silver alloy. A couple of the references mentions its use for flatware.

Here are three of the references I found:

----
Scientific American. / New Series, Volume 20, Issue 11, Mar 13, 1869

quote:

---

There have recently been introduced into use in Paris two new alloys of aluminum. The first is called aluminum silver, or third silver (tiers argent), and is composed of one-third silver and two-thirds aluminum. It is chiefly employed for forks,
spoons, and tea service, and is harder than silver and more easily engraved. The second is called minargent, and is made of one hundred parts copper, seventy parts nickel, five parts antimony, and two parts aluminum. It is a very beautiful, permanent, and brilliant alloy, capable of replacing silver for many purposes.

---

and

----
Manufacturer and Builder / Volume 14, Issue 5, May 1882

quote:

---

ALUMINUM SILVER is an alloy made by fusion
of one part of silver with three or four of aluminum. It is highly spoken of as a useful metal for such articles as instruments for marine observations, where lightness and unalterability are desirable qualities. [Why not also for civil engineering instruments? Ed. M. & B.] It is reported that sextants and other nautical instruments made of this alloy have been warmly approved by navigators. The metallic portions of such instruments, when made of the new alloy, weigh only about one-fourth as much as on the instruments in common use. The alloy is said to work easily in the lathe and under the file, which is not the case with pure aluminum.

---

and

----
ALUMINUM: ITS HISTORY, OCCURRENCE, PROPERTIES, METALLURGY AND APPLICATIONS, INCLUDING ITS ALLOYS by Joseph W. Richards (1890)
--
Title Page
Starting halfway down the page at "Cowles Bros."
Page 384
Page 385
Page 386
Page 387
----

From reading these references, it certainly would appear that flatware was made out of a genuine aluminum silver alloy in the late 1800s. I'm thinking my two pieces might be the real deal. I'm interested in any thoughts anyone else might have on the subject. Any information on International Silver's or Aluminum Silver Metal Company's use of the term "aluminum silver" would certainly be appreciated.

As an aside, Joseph W. Richards, the author of the Aluminum book was a metallurgy professor at Lehigh University. By coincidence Lehigh is my alma mater, and I seriously considered changing my major to metallurgy when I went there.

posted 05-14-2007 11:49 PM            

Here are three more references:

----
The Household Cyclopedia, 1881
--

quote:

---

A New Silver Alloy.

M. De Ruolz and De Fontenay, of France, have lately obtained, after several years' experiments, a new alloy, which may be very useful for small coin and for many industrial uses. It is composed of 1/3 silver, 25 to 30 per cent. of nickel, and from 37 to 50 per cent. of copper. Its inventors propose to call it tiers-argent, or tri-silver. Its preparation is said to be a triumph of metallurgical science. The 3 metals when simply melted together form a compound which is not homogeneous; and to make the compound perfect, its inventors have been compelled to use phosphorus and certain solvents which they have not yet specified. The alloy thus obtained is at first very brittle; it cannot be hammered or drawn, and lacks those properties which are essential in malleable metals. But after the phosphorus is eliminated, the alloy perfectly resembles a simple metal, and possesses, in a very high degree, the qualities to which the precious metals owe their superiority. In color it resembles platinum, and is susceptible of a very high polish. It possesses extreme hardness and tenacity. It is ductile, malleable, very easily fused, emits when struck a beautiful sound, is not affected by exposure to the atmosphere, or to any but the most powerful reagents. It is without odor. Its specific gravity is a little less than that of silver. An alloy possessing these qualities must be very useful to gold and silversmiths, It can be supplied at a price 40 per cent. less than silver, and its greater hardness will give it a marked superiority. It may also serve as a substitute for goldplated or silver-plated articles, which are now so common on account of their cheapness, but which will not bear replating more than a few times, and which are, in the long run, sometimes more expensive than the pure metal. The new alloy, however, will be most useful for small coin. Its preparation and coinage are so difficult that the coin made of it cannot easily be counterfeited. Its hardness would render it more durable than silver; and thus the expense of re-coining, and the heavy loss arising from the wearing of our silver coinage, would be greatly diminished.

---

and

----
The Popular Science Review, Volume IX, 1870
--
Toward the bottom of the page at "What is Tiers-Argent"
Page 100
--

and

----
Report of Artisans, 1867
--
Starting toward the bottom with "In the large case"
Page 300
Page 301
--

posted 05-15-2007 02:43 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by salmoned:
Two words - density test.

---

posted 05-15-2007 02:51 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kimo:
In the early 1880s the price of aluminum was about $1 per ounce which was the same as an ounce of silver. The reason is no one had discovered how to refine large quantities of it until the late 1880s.

It makes sense to me that prior to the discovery of how to refine large quantities of it inexpensively that alloying it with silver would have been considered an exotic and precious metal from which to make flatware. Once the discovery of how to created large quantities inexpensively came along I would guess that this alloy would have quickly lost its attraction in the market place.

---

That's what I was thinking, that things would have only been made out of aluminum silver alloy for a very short period. If these two items I've got truly are made out of aluminum silver alloy, I'd expect them to be quite rare at this point in time. That's why I find this quite intriguing. I have some knowledge of metallurgy and the idea of alloying these two metals never occurred to me before I saw the spoon.

posted 05-15-2007 03:15 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by salmoned:
Determining the difference is quite simple, due to the very low specific gravity of aluminum (2.7) compared with all the other metals generally used. Of course, if the aluminum content is low, then it could be a difficult call.

---

Between an aluminum silver alloy and sterling silver would be easy, but it's between aluminum silver alloy and another alloy of unknown composition perhaps containing neither aluminum or silver.

I'll have to look around as to the compositions of the other alloys sold under the aluminum silver name. I think I'll be able to find enough information to see if I can distinguish it from a true aluminum silver alloy.