Producers of Copper and Fabricators of Brass and Copper.

(c) Antique Metalware Society

Small extracts can be used with acknowledgements to 'Oldcopper.org' website.

Helpful comments are very welcome.

This will be just a small sample of producers and fabricators whose products or souvenirs have appeared in domestic markets.  Illustrations will be included in the main Makers Marks alphabetical sections.

 

 

American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers.  This mark was included in a splendid souvenir tray.

 

 

Ampco - American Metal Products Co  was founded in 1914 by August Littman who developed an extra-hard copper alloy. Since then they have specialised in meeting demands for high strength, low magnetic susceptibility, spark-resistance and electrical conductivity.

Anaconda Anaconda American Brass Co

Ansonia, Ansonia Copper and Brass Co

Birmingham Brass, USA, Birmingham Brass.

John Bibby Sons & Co., Blackburne Street, Garston, Liverpool until 1930s, the works being known as 'The Old Bone'. 

Previously they were at Poulton-cum-Seacombe until 1865 when their land was needed for new docks at Birkenhead.  They supplied sheathing for HMS Victory amongst many ships.  HMS Victory Copper Sheathing. Latterly the firm concentrated on the shipping business after the rolling mill side was taken over by Broughton Copper Company and then absorbed into ICI Metals and transferred to Swansea in 1936. (Thanks to John Owens). See website of Garston Historical Society.

Bristol Battery Brass, original home of the British brass industry. Bristol Brass

British Copper Manufacturers  formed in 1924 by the amalgamation of the two major copper smelting firms in Swansea, Messrs. Vivian and Sons; and Messrs. Williams Foster and Company and Pascoe Grenfell and Sons Limited.  In 1927 it was taken over by Yorkshire Imperial Metals Ltd., a joint company of Yorkshire Metals and Imperial Chemical Industries Limited (ICI), see also IMI below. The Swansea works closed in 1980. (Grace's Guide) Records are in the University of Wales, Swansea.

Butte Copper Co., Montana.   The story of the development of original mines at Butte, Montana involved fierce competition between at least three men who went on to be called 'Copper Kings' and moved in to Wall street finance.  The small adit mine tunnels became a pit over a mile long, nearly a mile wide and 1800 feet deep. Mining ceased there in 1982. Anaconda American Brass Co.

Bingham Canyon, Utah.  This is the world's largest man-made excavation, being more than 4km ( 2 1/2 miles) across at the top, 1km (3/4 mile) deep and covering 800 hectares (1,900 acres). Bingham Canyon ore has yielded more than 17 million tons of copper.  It is well worth a visit and is now also home to 'The World's Largest Copper Shop'. 

The Utah Copper Company was formed in 1903 and bought out by Kennecott Utah Copper in 1936 although the operating name was retained for a time.  It is now part of Rio Tinto. This cast copper souvenir paper weight is 75mm (3") long.

BolidenMcKechnie Bros.

Cornish Copper Company see: 'The History of the Cornish Copper Company', by W.H. Pascoe Redruth: Truran, [1982]. Note that the copper brand 'CCC' was later used by Chile Copper Company. Cornish Copper

Crown Copper Co Crown Copper Works at Neath, South Wales and head office in Birmingham, then owned by Rose & Co.

Delta Metal Co, originally at Greenwich, London, very near the site now occupied by the Millennium Dome and at Dartmouth Street, Birmingham, they were the innovators of Alexander Dick's extrusion process for brass. A 'new' factory in West Bromwich, near Birmingham is also now closed. 

Delta bronze No. IV was an early free-machining brass for hot stampings and extrusions.  This marking is under a specially hot stamped commemorative ashtray.   Other trade names included 'Deltoid', 'Dixtrudo' and 'Dixtampo'.

A large group was formed by takeovers of companies such as Enfield Rolling Mills, Earle Bourne & Co.,  Barker and Allen Ltd., Aston Chain & Hook Co. and others.  The Delta Group have now largely closed or sold off their metal making interests.  Delta plc has now been bought out by Valmont Group Pty Ltd.

Dornach, Switzerland.  This mark on a souvenir cymbal celebrates 90 years of manufacturing from 1895-1985 and is made from a sonorous alloy made within the Swissmetal Group. In 1855, a rolling mill and foundry, Bueche, Boillat & Cie., was founded in Reconvilier in the Bernese Jura.

This company changed its name several times before the formation of Swissmetal: from 1960 it was called Boillat S.A. The first plant in Dornach was also a rolling mill and foundry operated under the name Schweizerische Metallwerke AG Dornach. The Selve rolling mills in Thun were in the group until closed in 1991. Busch-Jaeger Metallwerk GmbH, Lüdenscheid. Germany is another group member. Initially set up to meet the exacting needs of the Swiss watch industry, it now produces precision copper-alloy forms and profiles for the semiconductor electronics industry.

Enfield Rolling Mills  (ERM) Three souvenir small copper wirebars made by Enfield Copper Refiners during the 1960s while they were still casting 100kg wirebars for rolling to copper rod and drawing to wire. The top of the casting is fully convex which is typical of a good tough pitch copper. Length 140mm (5 1/2") Weight 200g (7oz) each. Enfield Rolling Mills

 

 

 

 

This is the ERM logo as used on staff security badges.

 

 

 

 

 

Hutmen, Brass manufacturer of Wrocław, Poland.

 

 

 

 

 

IMI Metals, ICI Metals, Kynoch Works, Witton, Birmingham and elsewhere.   Constituent companies included Kynoch Ltd., The King's Norton Metal Co., Muntz's Metal Co., The Hughes Stubbs Metal Co., Wm Cooper & Goode, British Copper Manufacturers Ltd., Allen Everitt & Sons Ltd., The Broughton Copper Co. Ltd. and John Bibby, Sons & Co. (Garston) Ltd. and Yorkshire Imperial Metals amongst others.  They later became part of ICI Metals Division, Imperial Metal Industries,  then IMI plc. 

 

This 1985 souvenir ashtray was machined from a slice off a continuously cast billet 92mm diameter that retains the original cast surface.

 

 

Lambero Supplied sheathing for HMS Victory.

Muntz's Metal Co., Elliot Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham, started c1829 as G F Muntz of Water Street, Birmingham, then French Walls Works, Alma Street, Smethwick, Staffordshire.  Muntz's Metal Co.

National Copper & Smelting Co. Cleveland Copper Ashtray. National Copper & Smelting Company is a leader in the market for precision seamless drawn copper tubing. The Company was founded in 1916 in Cleveland, Ohio and moved its operations to Huntsville, Alabama in 1982. It still makes precision copper tubing for refrigeration, air conditioning, heat exchangers, etc. [http://www.nationaltube.com/ncs/theco.htm]

Pascoe Grenfell and Sons was founded in the 1820s.  They owned the middle and Upper Bank Copper Works in the Lower Swansea Valley and at their height employed 800 men.  The works merged with the neighbouring firm of Williams, Foster and Co to form Williams and Grenfell in 1892 and in 1924 the group amalgamated with Vivian and Sons to form the British Copper Company, in turn taken over by Yorkshire Imperial Metals Ltd. which later became Imperial Metal Industries (IMI Metals Division). (source - Archives Network Wales).

Parys Mountain Copper mine in Anglesey, North Wales, worked since the Bronze Age, 3,500 years ago and most significantly in the late 18th century. For a time it was the World’s largest, now a heritage site. Parys Mountain. Anglesey Mining. With the kind permission of The Marquis of Anglesey and Anglesey Mining PLC some areas of the mine have been reopened for exploration.

Roe & Co, Cheadle Works near Mines Royal Works at Neath Abbey, South Wales, c1790, succeeded by Cheadle Copper Co until 1821. Photo of token to come.

 

Rose Copper Co., Based in Birmingham, with a large copper refinery in Neath, South Wales, c1800.  The company was one of many that issued copper tokens at this time.

 

 

 

 

Southwire Copper Rod  Souvenir coil made for guests at the commissioning of the new continuous copper wire rod plant on the 17th October 1974 at Enfield Rolling Mills.

The coil of finished rod is mounted on a section of the original continuous casting from which it was hot rolled. Marked 'First SCR Coil'.

Vivian and Son A leading producer in South Wales with refineries at Hafod Copper Works, Swansea and Margam Copper Works, Port Talbot, Glamorgan.  Vivian & Son  Ingot mark of the copper works in Swansea set up by the early copper entrepreneur, John Vivian who came from a Cornish mining family.   This is one of a number of ingots recently recovered from a shipwreck. Below the initials 'V&S' is an 'A' which may indicate that it is grade 'A' copper or possibly that it is made from Anglesey ore.

One of his sons, Henry Hussey Vivian, founded H H Vivian & Co., 46 George Street, St. Pauls, Birmingham, made semi-fabricated copper and brass in the early 19th century at Icknield Port Road Works. see 'Vivian and Sons, 1809-1924': a study of the firm in the copper and related industries', Robert R. Toomey. Garland, 1985.

They supplied copper sheathing for HMS Victory.  This is a Vivian inspection stamp mark found on rolled copper from the late 19th century re-sheathing of HMS Victory.  The 32oz/sq. ft. grade was the thickest used and was applied to the bow section.

 

 

Oval stamp for Vivian and Sons, Yellow Metal Braziers.  This is on the back of a brass tray that was dip tinned before being sent to India for decoration by relief of the tin.

 

Walthamstow Copper Rolling mill in North East London, (later birthplace of William Morris of Arts and Crafts fame), Refinery at Landore, South Wales. Several designs of tokens were issued for use in lieu of copper coinage.

 

 

Some Brand Identities for refined copper

This table is based on the current LME (London Metal Exchange) listings with additions of a few of the many brands now obsolete.  Historical additions welcome.

Country	Brand	Producer
Australia	ISA	Mount Isa Mines Ltd, Queensland.
	BHP	Broken Hill Pty
	BLT	BHP Billiton plc
	OLYDA	BHP Billiton Olympic Dam Corporation Pty Ltd. S.A.
		Kembla brand, Port Kembla Copper Pty. NSW.
Austria	BRX	Montanwerke Brixlegg Aktiengesellschaft
Belgium	OLEN	Aurubis Belgium n.v./s.a.
Brazil	CbM	Paranapanema S.A.
	CbM-P	Paranapanema S.A.
Bulgaria	PIRDOP	Aurubis Bulgaria AD
Canada	NORANDA (produced after October 1999)	Glencore Canada Corporation
	NRD.LV	Noranda
	HBM	Hudson Bay Minerals
Chile	ABRA	Sociedad Contractual Minera El Abra
	AE	Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile
	AE SX EW	Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile
	CCCP	Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile
	CCC-SBL	Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile
	cCc-SX-EW	Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile
	CHUQUI-P	Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile
	CMCC	Compañia Minera Cerro Colorado Ltda
	COLLAHUASI (produced after December 1998)	Compania Minera Dona Ines De Collahuasi SCM
	ENM	Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile
	ESOX (produced after April 1999)	Minera Escondida Limitada
	GABY	Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile - Codelco
	LBF	Compañía Minera Lomas Bayas
	MET	Minera Centinela
	MIC-P	Minera Michilla S.A
	MIC-T	Minera Michilla S.A
	MB	Anglo American Norte S.A.
	MV	Anglo American Norte S.A.
	QB	Compania Minera Teck Quebrada Blanca S.A.
	RT	Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile
	SPENCE	Minera Spence S.A.
	ZALDIVAR	Compania Minera Zaldivar
China	DJ-A	Daye Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd
	DJ-B	Daye Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd
	GUIYE	Jiangxi Copper Company Ltd.
	JCC	Jiangxi Copper Company Ltd.
	JINTUN (produced after 31/8/97)	Jinlong Copper Co., Ltd
	JINXI	Dongying Jinxi Copper Co., Ltd
	JNMC	Jinchuan Group Co., Ltd.
	TIE FENG	Yunnan Copper Industry Co., Ltd
	TG	Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co., Ltd.
	TG-JG	Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co., Ltd.
	TG-JL	Jinlong Copper Co., Ltd
	XGC	YangGu Xiangguang Copper Co Ltd
	XGC II	YangGu Xiangguang Copper Co Ltd
	ZIJIN	Zijin Copper Co., Ltd
Finland	BCH	Boliden Harjavalta Oy
Germany	HK	Aurubis AG
	NA-ESN	Aurubis AG
India	BIRLA COPPER	Hindalco Industries Limited
	BIRLA COPPER II	Hindalco Industries Limited
	STERLITE	Vedanta Limited
	STERLITE T	Vedanta Limited
Indonesia	GRESIK	PT Smelting
Japan	HR	Pan Pacific Copper Co., Ltd.
	MITSUBISHI	Mitsubishi Materials Corporation
	OSR	Onahama Smelting & Refining Co Ltd
	SR-P	Pan Pacific Copper Co., Ltd.
	SUMIKO N	Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd
	SUMIKO-S	Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd
	SUMIKO T	Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd
	TAMANO-P	Pan Pacific Copper Co., Ltd.
Korea (South)	ONSAN I	LS-Nikko Copper Inc.
	ONSAN II	LS-Nikko Copper Inc.
Laos	SEPON	Minerals and Metals Group (MMG)
Mexico	CER	Mexicana de Cobre S.A. de C.V.
Myanmar	MONYWA S&K	Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Limited
Norway	FHG	Glencore Nikkelverk AS
Oman	OMCO	Oman Mining Co LLC
Peru	SMCV	Sociedad Contractual Minera Cerro Verde
	SPCC-ILO	Southern Peru Copper Corporation
	SPCC-SXEW	Southern Peru Copper Corporation
Philippines	PSR ISABEL	Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation
Poland	HMG-B	KGHM Polska Miedz SA
	HMG-S	KGHM Polska Miedz SA
	HML	KGHM Polska Miedz SA
Russia	NORILSK	PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel
	UMMC	JSC Uralelektromed
	UMMC II	JSC Uralelektromed
South Africa	RIO TINTO	Rio Tinto Palabora Mining Company Limited
Spain	FMS	Atlantic Copper S.L.U.
	FQM-CLC	Cobre Las Cruces S.A.
Sweden	BK	Boliden Mineral AB
USA	ATR	ASARCO LLC
	RAY	ASARCO Incorporated Kearny, Arizona. RAY GRADE 1
	CBCC	Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
	CTB	Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
	KUC	Kennecott Utah Copper LLC
	OFHC	American Metal Climax (AMAX) Oxygen Free High Conductivity Copper
	P*D	Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (Previously Phelps Dodge Corp.)
	PD*GO	Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
	PDMI	Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
	PDSS	Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
	WP	White Pine Copper, Michigan (silver bearing)
UK	E*R	Enfield Copper Refiners
	BCR	British Copper Refiners, Prescot, Liverpool.
	JB	IMI Refiners James Bridge Copper Works, Walsall.
	CCC	Cornish Copper (also used by Cape Copper Company)
Zambia	MCM	Mopani Copper Mines Plc
	REC	Konkola Copper Mines plc

 

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