Practical
Copper Anniversary Gifts: Ideas for the 7th Year
Which year it is, what to give, and how names and a wedding date end up in a kilogram of pure copper.
Seven years in, the traditional anniversary gift is copper: a warm metal that lasts and takes on character with age, which is a fair description of a marriage at that point. This guide covers which anniversaries are copper ones, what people actually give, and how to turn a kilogram of pure copper into a gift with the couple’s names on it.
Which anniversary is the copper one?
| Tradition | Copper year |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom and United States, traditional lists | The 7th anniversary, alongside wool |
| Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands | 12½ years: the "copper wedding", halfway to silver |
| Modern gift lists | The 22nd anniversary |
The bar in the photo above shows the Scandinavian version: "Kobberbryllup 12½ år" means "copper wedding, 12½ years". The date arithmetic is simple. Add twelve years and six months to the wedding day: a wedding on 12 March 2014 has its copper wedding on 12 September 2026.
Gifts that are actually made of copper
The point of the day is the material. These are the usual copper gifts, from the practical to the ones that stay on display:
- Cookware: a pan, a pot or a pair of mugs. Beautiful and useful, but it needs polishing and soon becomes one utensil among many.
- Jewellery and cufflinks: personal, though copper against skin darkens and can leave a mark.
- Art and interior pieces: a bowl, a candlestick, a relief. A matter of taste, and safe only if you know the home well.
- A solid copper bar with engraving: one kilogram of pure copper carrying the names and the date. It is not used up, does not go out of fashion and says exactly what it is for.
The last one is what we make. A custom engraved copper bar measures 104 × 55 × 22 mm, about the size of a deck of cards, and weighs one kilogram (2.2 lb). The weight is the first thing people notice.
How the engraving works
The engraving is done by fibre laser in our workshop in Hamar, Norway, and you see the result before we start:
- Order the Custom Engraved Bar from its product page.
- Send your text, or a design, to post@coppervm.no. Write it out line by line.
- We send you a proof showing exactly how the bar will look.
- Once you approve the proof, we engrave the bar and ship it.
Short text reads best: two names, one date and one more line. If you want more, such as a place or a short message, the proof shows whether it fits.
Order well ahead
An engraved bar is made to order. Allow time for the proof and your approval on top of international delivery, and order well before the date, especially if it cannot move. Bars without personal engraving are in stock and ship quickly.
One for the couple, or one each
Most people give one bar to the couple. The alternative is two: one each, with the same date and a different name on top. If the gift is from a group of friends or family, a bar is easy to share the cost of. It can stand on display in an acrylic cover that keeps fingerprints off the surface.
What comes with it
- Every bar is XRF-verified at a minimum of 99.99% copper (C10100) and carries its own serial number.
- The certificate of authenticity is included. Hand it over with the bar.
- The bar ships vacuum-sealed, so the surface is untouched when the gift is opened.