How can I know what my flute is made out of?

[Winter]

Hey! I took out my flute to play a bit, and had a thought.. how would I know what is it made of?
I took a few pictures just to show you. The flute starts blackening, which is really bothersome, and is hard to clean with the silver cleaning thing I got..
What do you guys think?
(I collect music instruments.. among all other stuff. so far I have 5: flute, block flute, dizi flute, a very old toy piano and a very nice violin)

 

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[Toby1858]

I always thought they were silver plated copper ?

 

[Winter]

some are plated, some are made out of actual gold or silver. guess this is good plating because the silver doesn't wear off...

 

[bigfoot1]

nickle is very popular because it is so tough.silver polish does not work well on nickle for same reason.My daughters was nickle

 

[lonewolfe]

Some are made of sterling silver - my sister had a few that were silver and she sold them for BIG $$