Does anybody know if?

[GetRdone]

The mouth pieces of the older band horn instuments are silver plated, I have found several of them and they come out of the ground bright and shiny, with what looks to be like silver, but can find no markings as such and have no way of testing them, any info and knowledge you have would be appreciated.

 

[cwilk]

I've found two and I think that they're usually nickel or some nickel alloy. They do seem to be plated with some less corrosive metal or coating though.

Chris

 

[GetRdone]

Thanks for the input cwilk, but I'm wondering if it's nickel either for nickel coinage comes out dark when found, I'm wondering if it could be cadium plating.

 

[dahut]

... unless I miss my guess. I used to play the trumpet and th epreferred and normal mouthpiece was made of brass, silver plated.
I suppose they could be made of nickle silver or Argentan, but I havevn't heard of it.
Argentan is an alloy of nickle and copper. According to wikipedia:

Nickel silver is a metal alloy of copper with nickel and often but not always zinc. It is named for its silvery appearance, but contains no elemental silver unless plated.

But again, I'd suspect it's plated brass.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah as a young feller I toyed with a few brass instruments and they were silver or nickel plated.

Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

Probably nickel plated. This was used on many items way back then including all the shiny ornaments on a new car and many small appliances.

Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

Cadium doesn't usually tarnish. If it's tarnished at may well be silver plated. To tarnish a metal needs to oxidize and some metals are too hard to do so.

Bill

 

[cwilk]

This one was found on Thanksgiving Day 2007. Note the corrosion where the plating is gone. I did some research too and found many that were silver plated so that might be the case with yours and possibly this one. I found some for sale that were Cu-Ni, Ni-Ag, and brass. The nickel-silver ones were not plated. The other alloys were frequently plated in either nickel or silver. A lot of site didn't mention what the ones they had for sale were made of at all and my two friends who were in bugle and drum corps had no idea what their mouthpieces were made of.

[attachment 111408 200711222.JPG]

Now I see that I didn't photograph the other one for whatever reason. I'd do it now but it would be a chore finding it.

Chris

 

[GetRdone]

Thanks for the input guys, yes it is brass based and plated, no signs of corrosion, and does have some tarnish on it, would post a picture but can't.