A swage mount for a recording head suspension comprising a flange, and a hub made of a base metal extending from the flange, and at least an outer surface of the hub is plated with one or more layers of metal which provides increased retention torque, and/or increased cleanliness, and/or increased corrosion resistance. This invention may be used in conjunction with swage mounts that contain surface protrusions that are intentionally created (such as chromium nitride or chromium carbide protrusions) or not intentionally created (such as material inclusions or embedded media particles). In this case the metal plating helps prevent separation of the protrusions from the swage mount, thereby helping to prevent contamination.