That's a good question Ian. I don't know for sure. I know Bali uses arsenic in etching their keris blades.
One thing is for sure - often even the copper/gold mix of suassa has some silver content in it so that it won't become too brittle to work. Although copper is incredibly soft, when mixed with other metals it makes the new alloy brittle.
Also, some used the silver/copper alloy in a particular mix to LOOK like copper/gold suassa (especially since gold is so expensive).
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