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While I was getting my oil changed today I stopped by a thrift sale that was finishing up. They had rock bottom prices on every thing so I grabbed some rather weighty metal items for 3 bucks. There was some brass and some pewter but there was also this other metal that was silvery colored that I thought was plated but maybe brass underneath. I took it home and drilled into it. It's not plated, it's silvery through and through. What also threw me off though is that it is just slightly magnetic. Does that mean it's a steel alloy? Or a nickel alloy? It is a little coaster that says "Made in India". Does anyone know what this metal might be?

That's a strange one. I've seen some "made in India" die cast and brass pieces that were slightly magnetic, especially if a strong rare earth magnet was used. It could be because of impurities, I'm not sure.

A lot of times ornamental pieces will also have steel plates and bolts inside to give their bases more weight.

Most nickel alloys are non-magnetic, unlike pure nickel. It's also a very expensive metal, so it's not used in modern imported knick-knacks.

Does it spark against a grinding wheel?

I didn't check it against a grinding wheel, but I think I just didn't look close enough when I drilled the hole. I checked again and I do believe that it is a brass core. So then I thought maybe it is nickel plated. That thin layer of pure nickel would probably make it slightly magnetic, right?

Not surprising with such an item.

If the base metal is brass, sell it as mixed scrap brass. Unless it's very magnetic, it's not an issue.

About the only time the plating metal matters is when it's gold.

Thanks for the help!