Silver Plate Alternatives

Sterling Silver and Gold Plate

Sterling silver and gold plate are both costly alternatives to silver plate. Sterling silver contains 92.5 percent pure silver and 7.5 percent copper. The copper is added to strengthen the pure silver, which by itself is too soft for most objects. Gold, like silver, is a very soft metal. Consequently, it's usually alloyed with other metals. However, gold alloys by law must contain at least 10 parts gold to 14 parts of another metal. Given the cost of gold, a practical alternative to silver plate would be to plate an object with a gold alloy rather than to create the entire object out of the alloy.

Pewter and stainless steel are alternatives to silver plate that have the advantages of being relatively inexpensive and silver in color. Pewter was first used in 2000 to 500 B.C.; it was in widespread use by the Middle Ages. It consists of 92 percent to 95 percent tin. Stainless steel contains at least 50 percent iron combined with varying percentages of chromium and nickel. Stainless steel is very popular for both tableware and cooking utensils due to its ease of cleaning, rust and chip resistance, and good heat conductivity.

Copper and its alloys -- brass and bronze -- differ from silver plate in color but are similar to it in cost and function. Copper is a base metal with a pinkish color. It's very malleable but hardens rapidly when worked. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. The amount of copper ranges from 56 percent to 95 percent. Zinc also must be present, but how much zinc and whether a third metal also is present is undefined. Bronze like brass is a largely undefined alloy of copper.

The final group of silver plate alternatives are not metals at all but rather woods, ceramics, crystal and art glass. Woods -- especially hardwoods such as maple, olive, beech and cherry -- make excellent serving pieces. Ceramics including earthenware, stoneware, porcelain and bone china also are used for serving pieces as well as for individual place settings. Earthenware and stoneware are both opaque, relatively heavy, and early forms of pottery. Porcelain and bone china are more translucent, lighter and easier to decorate than earlier materials. Crystal contains more lead but usually less color than handblown art glass; both forms are more translucent than porcelain and china. Unfortunately, all ceramic materials as well as crystal and art glass break easily, unlike wood and silver plate.