The nucleation and growth of copper from sulphate solution have been studied on two substrates, glassy carbon and stainless steel. Investigations were performed by linear sweep voltammetry, potential and current step methods. The results suggest that a copper coating is formed on glassy carbon by three-dimensional nucleation and growth of the crystallites up to coalescence. On steel, after the formation of crystallites by the same mechanism as above, a second step was observed. The oxide layer, which was on the parts of the substrate not covered by the first crystallites, was reduced, allowing copper to deposit on the renewed surface by a non-nucleated process. This may explain the rapid covering of steel, as compared with the slow covering of glassy carbon, and the different morphology of the deposits obtained on the two substrates.