Electrical Contacts - Today I Learned

So they can be coated with silver. And I suspect Tin, though I've not processed my yet to confirm this.

Looking through my random contacts, some did not melt the way I would expect Tin to, or turn into Tin Pest, or even tarnish under heat the way I expected Silver to.



Today I found out why.

Some of the contacts may be electroplated with Palladium!

In non-arcing electrical contacts, palladium is commonly alloyed with nickel or cobalt. These coatings have higher hardness, lower residual stress, and better ductility than pure palladium.

Though I kept my crappy thin layer contacts anyway cause I'm a hoarder.
Now it has payed off. They might also be Platinum, or Rhodium too. So if you are selling silver electrical contacts, it would pay to separate these out and get a higher price, also something to keep in mind if you process yourself - you'll want to separate out the heavier Pt & Pd portion of your smelt for future refinement when you have a large enough quantity.