Sheffield plate were of various shapes with a thin layer of silver over a thicker core of copper and only the silver was visible until wear revealed an underlying gleam of red.

Process involves the fusing of silver over copper and the finished product has a faint bluish tint, which are from the presence of alloys in the copper and silver.

Examples of Sheffield plate include the production of Britannia metals. These plates were sold at one third of the price of silver because they had silver coatings which was fused with German silver.