[re Hagstoz’s “bronze”] …it is under the commercial name Nu gold,
which is a copper alloy, I am not sure how accurate thatpercentages
were that they gave you. it is fairly nice not as soft as commercial
bronze but works much better then any yellow brass.
Nu-gold is a brass, not bronze, since the alloying metal is zinc,not
tin. I was in Hagstoz’s store in Philadelphia once and asked them
about the inaccuracy of calling a copper-zinc alloy “bronze” rather
than “brass.” The man just said that this was the commercial name for
it.
I just googled “Nu-gold” and I’ll quote myself from an earlier
Orchid entry:
Those of us who have been working in base metal for a long
time recognize the name "Nugold" as an alternative designation
for "red brass," "Merlin's Gold," "Jeweler's Bronze," and etc.
See the description of brass sheet (CDA #230 alloy -- 85%
copper/15% zinc) in Rio Grande's "Gems & Findings" catalog.
Nugold may have up to 90% copper & 10% zinc. But its general
appearance is the same.
I suspect that the seeming reluctance to call a copper-zinc alloy
simply “brass” has something to do with the greater “prestige” which
the word “bronze” has in English, since bronze is an “art metal” and
brass is just a work-horse metal. What do you think?
Judy Bjorkman
