Definition

• Metallized Surface.  A nonmetallic surface which is treated to make it appear as metal or to contain some property of metal, as being electrically conductive. Such surfaces are so treated in electrogalvanic work and in certain finishes in the medallic field. A plaster pattern, for example, can be metallized as a first step in forming an electrogalvano. This can be accomplished with a liquid solution (containing minute particles of metal in suspension), or in powder or paste form. Graphite and bronze powders (actually pure copper) are common metallizing agents. Flash metallizing, using a liquid, employs a solution that evaporates rapidly leaving the coated surface with a uniform layer of metal flakes. In electrogalvanic work the metallizing agent not only acts as a primer to start the electrodeposition (because it conducts electricity), but also as a release agent after the form is ready to be separated from the pattern.  See electrodeposition.

  excerpted with permission from

  An Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology

  For Artists, Makers, Collectors and Curators

  COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY D. WAYNE JOHNSON

  Roger W. Burdette, Editor

Relationships