Here, we are going to talk about the value of precious metals and what affect copper has on them and their value, if any.
There are a lot of useful and wonderful properties to the metal we call copper. It is malleable and soft, for one thing. To form alloys, it can be blended with other metals because it is classified as a "friendly" metal. When it comes to this technique – of mixing copper and precious metals – which are most often used? Additionally, when mixing does occur, how is the value of the precious metal affected?
The bottom line to keep in mind when going over all of the following information is this: Whatever precious metal is mixed with copper, it's value will be reduced somewhat.
Copper and Its Value
When it comes to precious metals, copper is not one of them. It's not even particularly valuable. It does, in fact, cost very little per pound. So, naturally, when you create an alloy like 14 karat gold or 18 karat gold – by mixing mix copper with gold – compared to 24 karat gold (which is pure gold), the alloy resulting is lower in value.
This also applies in the use of silver when alloyed with copper. Now that you know, without a doubt, that copper will somewhat reduce the value of a precious metal when alloyed together, let's look at which precious metals are most often combined with copper.
Platinum
We’ll start with what may be the most surprising precious metal to be alloyed with copper. Platinum! Chances are, you may never have seen this! But why not? One would think that it would be a malleable result with a nice gold color. Unfortunately, platinum and copper alloys are somewhat unstable because they have a permeable physical structure. After all, ordinarily, when soft copper is alloyed with other metals, the result – particularly in this case, is a final product that is easy to form. Unfortunately, for use in jewelry, these two are (for the most part) unsuitable.
However, platinum can be layered on top of copper in some pieces of jewelry (like lower-end rings).
Silver
This is a popular alloy, silver blended with copper. Widely used in decorative items, tableware, etc., sterling silver varieties are created in such a manner. In the past, to make coins such as dimes, silver and copper were also alloyed.
Gold
When gold and copper are mixed, the results can be pink golds, rose, yellow, or whites. Why so many colors? The reason is, allowing for different color ranges, part of the mix may also include other metals like zinc or silver.
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