Cupronickel (also known as
copper-nickel) is an
alloy of
copper that contains
nickel and strengthening elements, such as
iron and
manganese. Aside from the terms cupronickel and copper-nickel, several other terms have been used to describe the material: the tradenames Alpaka or Alpacca (registered trademark), Argentan Minargent, and the
French term, Cuivre blanc, are still registered; cupronickel is also occasionally referred to as "hotel silver," plata alemana (
Spanish for "German silver"), "German silver," and "Chinese silver".