Copper Facts: Copper in Household Products

Most silver plate flatware (forks, knives, spoons) has a copper-nickel-zinc alloy base (nickel silver) which accounts for about 1.2 pounds of copper per set of 12 pieces. An average set of hollowware uses about 1.8 pounds of copper.

In order for sterling silver to be usable as tableware, 7.5 percent copper is mixed with 92.5 percent silver, making the metal hard and sturdy.

Copper cookware has long been the preference of gourmet chefs around the world. The metal's ability to transfer heat efficiently and evenly puts the cook in complete control. Although many U.S. companies used to manufacture solid copper cookware, today, only Hammersmith Copper is still in business, according to the Cookware Manufacturers Association of Birmingham, Alabama. The 12-employee, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based manufacturer supplies cookware and serving pieces to professional and home cooks with either tin or silver linings. The company also re-tins copper cookware.

A pair of brass fireplace andirons weighs about 15 pounds. A copper fire screen uses about 12 pounds. A set of fireplace tools is about 10 pounds.

A solid brass bed weighs in at about 60 pounds.

Brass tables go for about 15 pounds each, while brass-framed mirrors use about 5 pounds each.

Brass and/or copper floor and table lamps consume about 7 pounds each for a total of about 60 million pounds - about half of all household products.

Grandfather, grandmother and large wall clocks, on average, use about 9 pounds of copper, each.

Decorative and instrumental bells consume about 4 pounds of copper alloy each, on average.

Twenty-four carat gold is not always pure. Because gold is so soft, it can be molded with the hands and is subject to blemishing. Therefore, gold coins and jewelry are usually alloyed with copper to provide a degree of hardness.

Advanced technology offers tough, new finishes for brass products that are brilliant and long lasting - many that come with lifetime warranties against corrosion, pitting and discoloration. Using various vapor-deposition processes, multiple coatings of semiprecious metals, only molecules thick, are applied to the brass. Final color coats produce bright brass, chrome and other finishes.