The following metals were known in medieval times. The weights given are approximate and relative to iron. 'Forge' indicates the approximate temperature at which the metal can be forged.
| Metal | Common use | Wt. | Forge |
| Copper | Coinage, utensils | 1 | Medium |
| Gold | Coinage, jewellery | 2 | Medium |
| Iron | Tools, steel-making | 1 | High |
| Lead | (little used) | 1 1/2 | Low |
| Quicksilver | Alchemy | 1 1/2 | -- |
| Silver | Coinage, jewellery | 1 | Medium |
| Tin | Alloying | 1 | Medium-Low |
| Tinglass | (none) | 3/4 | Medium-Low |
| (Platinum) | Jewellery | 2 | Medium |
| (Mithral) | Weaponry | 1/2 | High |
Platinum was actually discovered in the mid 16th century, but is none
the less found in many medieval-era fantasy games.
In my campaign, mithral was identical with what we would call titanium.
This was actually discovered at the end of the 18th century.
Quicksilver is, of course, mercury.
Tinglass is what we now call bismuth. Antimony was also known,
and referred to by the same name. It also had no use in medieval times and
hence was valueless despite it's relative rarity.
Steel is produced by roasting iron ore over green timber and then
quenching with water. The 'bloom' so produced is removed from the hearth,
and then reheated and the slag hammered out. The result is much harder than
iron, and is mainly used for weaponry and armour.
The only alloys in common use are bronze (copper/tin), used mainly
for jewellery by medieval times, and brass (copper and a
calamine/charcoal mixture) which is used for making utensils of various kinds.
Bronze with an especially high tin content is commonly used for the backing
of mirrors.
Electrum, an alloy of gold and silver, is used mainly for jewellery as is 'pink gold' (gold and coloured pigments).
Basic metalwork can be adorned by inlaying with precious metals, usually silver. This is acheived either by hammering silver wire into indented grooves or by using cut shapes of silver fitted into carved recesses.
Enamelling involves packing coloured powders into cells then fusing them into the metal using heat. The cells can be produced from metal wire or chased out in low relief, or alternatively the enamel can be encrusted onto the surface of a figure beaten from sheet metal.
Niello is a popular alternative to enamel and used in much the same way. It is black in colour (we would call it copper sulphide).
Sheet metal can be modelled with a hammer and punch to produce a pattern in light and dark shades, or prior to encrusting with enamel. Steel can even be patterned, by welding together strips of crystallised steel and then bending and forging them to develop the pattern.
Metal wires are also often used as decoration. They are made using a draw-plate, made of iron or steel and containing a series of increasingly small holes. A pointed rod of metal is forced through the holes to make the wire.
Generally, master smiths are licensed to produce coins on behalf of the government. They usually add some distinctive mark to the coinage to indicate in which foundry it was produced, in addition to whatever designs are dictated by the authorities.
Coins are produced by hammering the metal between two engraved dies. The lower die is a disc of metal with spikes on the underside to anchor it to a block of wood. The upper die is simply a bar of iron which is hammered onto the metal blank. The blanks are produced by casting, a process used in a few localities for coin-making itself.
By the middle ages, the art of assaying was already fairly sophisticated, and many smiths could make a significant portion of their income by assaying precious metals for merchants, churches or nobles. In general, coins are supposed to be nine parts in ten of the appropriate metal but debasing is not all uncommon.
All smithies, and most mines, are now water-powered. Although many old-style smelting works are still in use, iron can now be produced in stack-ovens. These are fourteen foot high towers with a furnace at the base, and can produce forty to fifty tons of wrought iron a year - three times the amount of traditional smithies.
There is also a wider use of some other metals. Bronze is coming into use again for casting guns and bells. Brass is also much more popular, being used, for example, to make bombs. Brass can now be produced by alloying copper with zinc, a recently discovered metal.
A 'new' alloy is pewter (although this had been produced in Roman times). This is made from brass, tin, lead and small amounts of tinglass (bismuth) - the last ingredient being a trade secret.
A tin/quicksilver alloy is now used for backing mirrors.
Enamel is now sometimes painted onto the surface of metal, giving a more even appearance than using the older method.
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This page was last updated 4th October 1997 by Jamie 'Trotsky' Revell.