Employ your senses to determine if your copper is the real deal.
Though it might lookgreat, an item can easily appear to be copper when it really isnt.
That staying power is what makes genuine copper products so special.
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Use these tips and tests to find out if your copper is real.
A quick way to distinguish the two?
Copper has a penny-colored huethink more amber/reddish/brownwhere brass is more yellow.
The Sound Test
Copper will sound different from other metals or alloys.
Red or white gold, for example, will ring out with more of a clanging, bell-like sound.
The Magnet Test
Prepare yourself for a science lesson.
Copper, under normal circumstances, is not magnetic.
(The Latin prefix dia means going apart or opposed in movement.)
Other metals, like iron or steel, are paramagnetic, making them friendly toward and attracted to magnets.
Otherwise, youll just have a vase full of spare change.
