Pinchbeck

Description

A yellow brass alloy of copper and zinc prepared as an inexpensive, imitation gold. Pinchbeck was first produced about 1725 by Christopher Pinchbeck, a London watchmaker. It contains copper (83%) and zinc (17%) and has a gilded finish. It is lighter than gold and tends to darken with age. Pinchbeck was used for watch cases, snuff boxes, and inexpensive jewelry.

Synonyms and Related Terms

poor man's gold

Authority

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p.656

• External source or communication Comment: R.Child,"The Identification of Post-Industrial Revolution Metals" in Modern Metals in Museums, Institute for Archaeology Publications, London, 1988.

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinchbeck_%28alloy%29 (Accessed Jan. 25, 2006)

• Tom Rowland, Noel Riley, A-Z Guide to Cleaning, Conserving and Repairing Antiques, Constable and Co., Ltd., London, 1981

• George Savage, Art and Antique Restorer's Handbook, Rockliff Publishing Corp, London, 1954

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998