Random Word Post – German silver

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I find a random word by flipping through my 2003 The New Webster’s Concise Dictionary and write a quick – often silly – little post about it. # “German silver – nickel silver.” Okay. “nickel silver – A hard, silvery alloy of nickel, copper, and zinc that resists corrosion.” I had to go to Wikipedia to find out why it’s called German silver. Turns out, the Chinese made some alloy called paktong that 19th century German metalworkers were trying to imitate. Something interesting is that fraudsters sometimes use nickel silver to make fake silver coins. Keep that in mind next time you’re coin hunting.