Muntz metal

It is named after George Fredrick Muntz, a metal-roller of Birmingham, England, who commercialised the alloy following his patent of 1832.

It was found that copper would gradually leach from the alloy in sea water, poisoning any organism that attempted to attach itself to a hull sheathed in the metal.

Thus, it was also used to sheathe the piles of piers in tropical seas, as a protection against teredo shipworms, and in locomotive tubes.

[4] Muntz's new metal contained more copper, less zinc, and a bit of iron not present in a similar 56:44 alloy patented by William Collins in 1800.

The 4.5-acre (18,000 m2) site soon proved inadequate, and in 1850 a further 6.5 acres (26,000 m2) were bought, on the other side of the Birmingham, Wolverhampton & Stour Valley Railway.