Sheffield plate

American  

noun

1. sheet copper with a cladding of silver.

---

Etymology

Origin of Sheffield plate

1855–60; named after Sheffield, England

Example Sentences

The tradition continued with silvered Sheffield plate cutlery in the 19th Century.

From BBC

Made of copper, brass or Sheffield plate, these buttons could close a pair of breeches or a jacket while simultaneously announcing the wearer’s politics.

From Slate

The agent rattled through his task, but was pulled up several times in dining-room and drawing-room, when a picture or two, some Sheffield plate, and various bits of china were missing.

From Project Gutenberg

Instead of using solid silver, a layered combination of silver and copper, known as Sheffield plate, was chosen.

From BusinessWeek

Lemuel, I gather, has severed his connection with his employer—a nobleman to whose family and person the Blootes have been faithfully attached for more than forty years—owing to an unfortunate misunderstanding with regard to a valuable and massive service of Sheffield plate, unaccountably missing from the baronial strong-room.

From Project Gutenberg