PURPOSE: To suppress the dissolution and consumption of a lead-based anode into a plating liquid with a chrome plating device having the insoluble anode consisting of a lead or lead alloy by providing the anode with an auxiliary cathode via an auxiliary power source and passing a specific slight quantity of current between the anode and the auxiliary cathode.

CONSTITUTION: An object 3 to be plated as a cathode and the insoluble anode 1 consisting of the Pb or Pb-Sn alloy system are immersed in a plating cell 7 contg. the Cr plating liquid contg. CrO3 and H2SO4 and are energized by a power source 4 for plating, by which a plating film of Cr is formed on the cathode 3. In such a case, the anode 1 is provided with the auxiliary cathode 2 as an anode protective circuit via a diode 6 by the auxiliary power source 5 and the low current of 0.01 to 0.3% of the plating current is passed under a voltage of 1.8 to 2.2 V thereto, by which the dissolution and consumption of the Pb of the anode 1 into the plating liquid is prevented.