Hello, I'm a Farrier by trade (which is a blacksmith that shoes horses) and there is a divide between the guys that use steel nails and the ones who use copper nails when tacking on a horseshoe to a hoof. I agree that copper has germicidal properties but I was recently told that my copper nails were ineffective in being germicidal do to the fact that they are electroplated. Does electroplating copper inhibit the germicidal effects of copper?

No, Copper is Copper whether pure or used as plating. Steel nails are sometimes Zinc flash plated and then Copper. I would imagine most copper nails are some alloy, pure Cu is pretty soft.