Argentium sterling silver

Argentium silver (patented in 1998) is a brand of modern tarnish-resistant silver alloys, containing either 94% or 96% silver. Argentium alloys replace some of the copper in the traditional sterling silver (92.5% silver + 7.5% copper) with the metalloid germanium. Both argentium 940 and argentium 960 alloys exceed the standard required for hallmarking as sterling silver, and argentium 960 silver meets the standard for hallmarking as Britannia silver (95.84% silver).