Punch marks alpaca

Do you know what alpaca is?

You may be knocking your forehead right now, why on a website dedicated to coins and precious metals we want to talk about llamas or wool made from their fur.

But alpaca is also a metal alloy, specifically containing copper, nickel and sometimes zinc. Most often in a 3:1:1 ratio - copper + nickel + zinc. It is so similar in appearance to silver that it can also be found under the name "new silver" or in English "nickel silver"/"German silver".

However, it does not contain any silver and is used as a cheaper and more durable alternative - alpaca is used to make jewellery, decorations, cutlery and crockery, and musical instruments.

The visual similarity between alpaca and silver sometimes inspires scammers to try to sell alpaca products as real silver, of course at prices common to real silver. Often these are various collectible coins or ingots that at first glance appear to be silver and bear a label such as "Fine German Silver", but nowhere will you find a silver hallmark or information that the product contains real silver.

Fortunately, it's not just scams where you need to find out the origin and composition of a metal. A typical example is the following situation: when sorting through your great-grandmother's belongings, you come across a set of cutlery that at first glance looks like silver. As a layman, how can you tell if it is pure silver, silver-plated metal or just an alloy, i.e. alpaca?

Hallmarks

The first and most important clue you don't need any great expertise for - take a good look at the item and look for the hallmark. Did you find it? Even so, it doesn't have to be a precious metal, alpaca products also tend to be hallmarked.

Hallmarks - alpaca

The following hallmarks can be found on items made from alpaca:

Punched flower - this is how the products of SANDRIK (one of the largest manufacturers of alpaca items, especially crockery and cutlery) were marked, their products can also bear the AS SANDRIK mark

Bear with the letters BMF/ART BERNDORF - the mark of the manufacturer Berndorfer Metalwaarenfabrik Artur Krupp, sometimes the mark was accompanied by the full name BERNDORF or KRUPP BERNDORF, often the mark was also accompanied by the designation of the metal itself, i.e. ALPACCA

Image source: ascasonline.org

CHRISTOFLE - brand of another manufacturer of alpaca items, again mainly kitchen utensils

Rhombus with the inscription METAL BLANC CC - such a marking was given to products made of base (= not precious) metals

Numbers - these numbers usually complement the company hallmark and indicate the specific composition/quality of the metal in question. 

Only the so-called state hallmark (hallmark = general mark stamped into a metal product, state hallmark = state-specific marking for precious metals according to the hallmarking law) gives you the certainty that you are actually looking at a genuine silver product and not an alpaca/other metal. If you do not find one of the currently valid state hallmarks on the product, do not despair - especially for antique pieces, you may also find older hallmarks, for example from the Austro-Hungarian period.

However, if the item is made of silver, it should still bear some sort of hallmark, which all silver items bore at the time of manufacture.

If no such state hallmark is found, it is probably an item made of alpaca or another base metal.

If you are unsure or unsure about how to judge the metal yourself, we always recommend that you contact the experts.