Many people react badly to nickel, which is present it high quantities in surgical stainless. It also turns some people's skin green. Silver is used in tableware because of its whitish luster and preciousness. It is not really the most practical metal for cutlery. It tarnishes slowly by reacting with sulfur pollutants, which are present in the air in trace amounts.
Pure silver is also very soft because it allows slippage to occur easily.
The resulting material is much harder than either of the pure metals. Corrosion stops at the grain boundaries around the stable materials so that they form a protective layer above the other materials beneath them. The head of a hammer is made of very tough steel. Depending on the type of hammer, that head may even hardened tool steel. In that case, the head will not yield, except to the most incredible forces.