Proctologically Violated©® wrote:

I have old cloth-covered #9-10 solid wire in my old cloth-covered house,
and sed wire is, I believe, *silver plated*!!!! Well, plated w/ sumpn,
brite and shiny.
No way is it Silver! It is most likely tin or solder. Unless,
of course, it is aluminum wire. If it is aluminum, be VERY careful
to only use the proper aluminum-rated connections on everything -
breakers, switches, outlets, etc. And, torque all connections
every 10 years or so. Or, replace the damn fire hazard stuff with
copper at the earliest convenience.

If it *is* silver, it is a marvelous idea, because sposedly the bulk of the
current density in a conducting wire lies on the surface of the wire.
If it's tin plated, the question is then *why*!
For anti-corrosion properties. Tin and solder don't corrode quickly.
Tin oxide is a pretty good conductor, too, as it is used to make the
see-through wiring on the glass plates of LCD displays. Silver
DOES corrode badly in the ever-present sulfur compounds in our
dirty air. It turns deeply black, which is why if the stuff on your
wires still looks "silver", it isn't Silver.

Wire wrap wire IS plated with pure Ag, and it definitely tarnishes
on the outside of wire-wrap joints over time. That doesn't seem to
keep them from still working, though.

Jon