Engraved copper plate, Willow pattern, one of a collection of specimens illustrating the manufacture of pottery: English, Newcastle upon Tyne, by C.T. Maling, mid 19th century

Zollverein Mining Products - sample of galena and grey copper ore, from the Concordia Mine, Niederfischbach, Germany

Zollverein Mining Products - sample of galena and grey copper ore, from the Concordia Mine, Niederfischbach, Germany

Zollverein Mining Products - sample of grey copper ore, Schwabengrube, Müsen, Germany

Zollverein Mining Products - sample of vitreous copper, Vorschung, Ruhr-Sieg Railway, Germany

Zollverein Mining Products - sample of copper slate with purple copper, Mansfeld Company for Mining and Smelting, Germany

Zollverein Mining Products - sample of nickel pyrite, and nickeliferous copper, and iron pyrites, Hilfe Gottes Mine, near Nanzenbach, Germany

Copper, with cuprite and chrysocolla, from Coquimbo, Chile

One of a group of copper ores and other specimens illustrating the extraction of the metal - a sample of copper bullion from copper converters

Reel of pure copper wire, .0028 plain soft

Reel of pure copper wire, .0076 plain soft

Copper - metallic brown dendritic specimen - with some small pieces of matrix adhering, from Cornwall, England

Copper - a thin orange-brown sheet with some matrix adhering - from Ray Mine, Scott Mountain area, Mineral Creek District, Dripping Spring Mountains, Pinal County, Arizona, USA

Copper - native - a mass of small orangish-brown enmeshed crystals - some long - associated with a small amount of matrix - from Ray mine, Ray, Gila County, Arizona, USA

Copper - a fine metallic dendritic crystal group - reddish-brown in colour with some pale matrix adhering - from Lake Superior, probably Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, U.S.A.

Copper - an orange-brown nugget associated with native silver - from Calumet and Hookla Mine, Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, U.S.A.