High permeability, long wearing magnetic head alloy

A magnetic alloy having superior effective permeability and good wear resistance characteristics for a magnetic head member consisting essentially of, on a 100 weight percent basis, from 79 to 85 weight percent nickel, from 2 to 6 weight percent chromium, from 1 to 10 weight percent germanium, from and including 0 to 4 weight percent manganese, and from 9 to 17 weight percent iron, said alloy being characterized by having a coercive force smaller than 0.07 Oersted, a magnetic flux density greater than 6,000 Gausses at 10 Oersteds, an initial permeability greater than 4,000, and a specific resistance greater than 60.mu..OMEGA.-cm.