Would Full Golden Armor Work? And Did Gilded Armor Exist?
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- We often see in videogames, manga and anime heroes wearing full plate gold armour. But would that actually be possible? And if the answer is yes, how good would golden armour be compared to say steel armour or iron armour? Let's find out!
Link to the video mentioned
• From The Bronze Age To...
what this video fails to consider is that having an armor entirely made out of gold would be so unbelievably cool that your enemies would collapse out of sheer jealousy
Ahah good point!
Or collapse trying to carry it off.
@@patrickmccurry1563 a full suit say, 1/16th inch thick, would at least be 150 pounds.
@@metatronyt I'm more of a Shaka type of guy :^3
In objective analysis, Gold armour is just going to make you a target for those who desire to loot your corpse like an RPG player.
True, which is why only the wealthiest of kings would ever consider using it. Even then, it wouldn't be used in battle by any one with sense.
@@TheZeroSbr A Clever King would bestow the 'Esteemed Honour & Privilege' of wearing it into battle unto a lord he does not like. Or if he wants said lord's land, wealth, & widow. Kings are often jerks who do such thinngs. 👑 😈
Yep
Yes....u r too stand out...
All for one for u...lol
Good point! Like wearing a Porsche
I'm an engineer and I say, your knowledge of materials is astounding, congrats metatron.
I have a question that you might be able to answer, and I would be very grateful if you would. I like fantasy axes, the ones that look really cool, but would be extremely unpractical due to being too heavy. What would be the best modern material to make these? I think in contrast to swords the material doesn't need to be as flexible, and therefore it would only need to exceed in lightness and edge retention.
And the same question for amour, because I think there might be modern materials that would be much better suited than steel.
Do you have any ideas about what to use for these purposes?
I would really appreciate an answer.
@@GothamClive kind of late, but if it's for cosplay or creating a piece of art, you can use EVA foam or any plastic available in hardware stores, in combination with hot glue and polimer clay. If you need someting more durable, let's say, pretty sure titanium would do the job though it won't be cheap to say the least.
@@GothamClive Titanium is very strong with low density, but is very expensive as you can imagine. Titanium is not very ductil so making any shape with it is very hard inless you use 3d printing which has other problems. Besides that you have to go to composits. Something like an hard polymer like PVC maybe? you have carbon fiber but the tecnhiques to make an axe with carbon fiber would probably don't work very well. Steel is still the better material for something like that. It's not pure though, there are tecnhiques where you can insert other components in the steel to make it stronger and more durable but it's still heavy. Using anything ceramic would be a disaster since they are very brittle. So it has to be some metal or some composite of metal and plastic. But in terms of metal titanium would be the most promissing but there's still no good ways of maching a strong titanium armor for example. We need better tecnhology.
@@paulogaspar8295 Thank you. That's a very interesting answer.
@@GothamClive high performance titanium alloys would be the best performant. Similarish in strength to high performance steel when compared by volume, but it has a a much lower density. But you would need modern manufacturing methods to produce weapons and armors out of it. A medieval blacksmith could not work it. But it is roughly half the density and the higher hardness and toughness compared to historic armor, you could create a better performing armor at like 1/3 the weight. The only thing that it might suck at could be sharpening and edge retention for your Axe blade.
Please, do notice that the Golden Cloth (and other Clothes) are not made entirely of the respective metal. They are an alloy of Gamanium, Stardust Sand and Orihalcon, along with Gold/Silver/Bronze. They are reinforced and given live with the blood of a Saint. So no, the Golden Cloth does not behave like a gold armor. Either way, as a chemist, I really loved the video.
+ The Sun's Power is bathing the Gold Cloth since mythologic times. + the main Bronze Cloth were bathed in Gold Saints Blood + Athena Blood, making them absolutely stronger than they should be
Worth mentioning if the warrior wearing a golden cloth doesn’t have the 7th sense or at least a certain level of Cosmo, it becomes heavier and heavier.
@@VamosViverFora Even have better luck wearing a gold god cloth XD.
Nice answer. Still, no Silver/Bronze used. Acording to Kurumada himself, only Gold was added ( yes, EVERY Cloth was "golden" in essence)
Can someone tell me what the hell stardust sand is?? It sounds AWSOME! Like a crafting material from a fantasy rpg
*”Could Gold armour work?”*
*Me, a MineCraft veteran: “NO.”*
10/10 piglins would disagree
Minecraft, teaching us for years that gold is useless when it comes to armor and weapons
@@Sunny-ld4nn still a good trade commodity.
It's diamond or go home.
i was just about to comment something like that, it's true!
"It don't matter as long as it looks cool. Blind your enemies with your bling." - Sun Tzu, _The Art of War_
My fav quote from that book
Good joke. lol
Never trust a quote on the internet without checking at least two other sources. Abraham Lincoln
Such a visionary
"Let your enemies drown in your drip." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Rule of cool
Ah, yes. The age old "ceremonial" purpose of EVERYTHING according to archaeologists.
yeah total default answer to many things found in the museums archives
It just means, "I haven't the first clue, but it looks impressive."
@@rtyria then they should say that. There is no shame in admitting your own ignorance.
@@rtyria yes, but it's so funny going through folder after folder in the archives and seeing objects that are obviously something quite simple. I have worked as a konservator for a few years in a museum and it's truly wonderful to prepare objects for an expo that are only marked as "cult object" or "religious object". Once had a buckett out of a celtic well and it was called "object of worship" (it had been found together with three yellow hares that were probably for worship purposes). : )
@@Gwen34900 That's not the impression I got in college. Some professors would rather cut their tongues out then admit ignorance.
"Metatron of Gemini isn't real; he can't hurt you"
Metatron of Gemini:
hehe xd
Metatron Gemini is the name of his twitch channel so that thumbnail fits 😁
Oh my Athena.
😁
Galaxian Explosion!!!
Most of the time when historians say "Cerimonial" what they should be saying is "Ornamental". Because things WERE made just to look cool even in historical eras.
So true!
That's exactly what Raff was saying; in his rant video on archaeologists saying *everything* that looks good must be "ceremonial", he at one point says they often say that about *fully functional* objects simply because they're a bit more lavishly decorated than they expect those objects to be. We live in an age in which people are content to use functional tools and weapons that're all identically *bland* and *boring* , while reserving our *fancy, flashy* looking stuff for decoration and for our *own* kind of ceremonies and *other* special occasions, and thus have formed the idea that style and substance are mutually *exclusive* ; and we unfortunately *project* that onto *historical* people, with even our modern reproductions of *their* functional tools, weapons, and armor being *every bit* as identically bland and boring looking as our own.
We modern people are *extremely arrogant* ; I watched a documentary series once called Technological Wonders of the Ancient World, and it revealed that a *lot* of our "modern" inventions and discoveries were *actually* invented and discovered by the *ancients* all that time ago, and were only *reinvented* and *rediscovered* centuries later by the *modern* people who're given the credit for them while we project an image of *primitiveness* onto the ancients. Really shows just how much of a *disaster* both the Library of Alexandria's burning and the fall of the Roman empire were. Think about how much *further* along we'd be if *neither* of those things happened.
@@ezrafaulk3076 I contest that modern people are content to use tools that are functional, bland and boring. In fact, I’ll go so far as to point out that you are everything that you accuse others of being by basing your entire argument on that point.
Evidence that you are wrong? Rgb on computers.
@@PippetWhippet I was referring specifically to tools and weapons similar to what *they* used; RGB computers aren't even *vaguely* related to that. Just look at our camping tools and our weapons look *super* bland and boring in contrast to what they used.
And I'm *not* about separating style and substance; if you actually *read* my comment you'd realize I was advocating *against* that. You accused me of being the exact *opposite* of what I was *actually* being, a lot like SJWs do in the political field; that's only gonna make you look *stupid* , just like *they* do, so I'd *avoid* it.
@@ezrafaulk3076 There are entirely too many custom modern weapons(especially in the US) for the assumption that style over substance went away for the modern era.
I have an anodized blue charging handle for my work in progress AR. It serves no function other than that metallic blue color is a nice contrast to the black. When completed, would that gun be ceremonial? No, it would not. I'd take it to the range periodically.
Raf has gone full Saint Seiya.
@Aaron Seet
Raf in Bronze Cloth is strong enough to completely negate the Serious Punch of Saitama.
Never thought I'd see the day where a Saint Seiya gold armour would be in a Metatron thumbnail but that glorious day happened.
Metratron is WRONG! Even if the gold armor is not as strong it is bless with the Cosmos of Athena making it the strongest. On top, like it happened to Seiya, it will canalize your Cosmos allowing you to use the 7th sense and even move at the speed of light. So even if the armor was "weak". Just the ability to fight at 300,000 km/s is enough to be a massive OP fighter.
I see you are a man of culture
Anime is so cringe
To be honest, the gold armours are made of orichalcum and gold, so they are not pure gold and need no damn cosmos to be resistant. The cosmos is just to wear them like they are your pijamas and not solid blocks.
I through mith cloth is made of oricalco and the gold and shine came from the power of the sun absorved by the mith cloth through the ages
@@NueThunderKing Orichalcum, Gold and STAR DUST.
Plus the blood of very powerful saints, making the gold cloth alive in a way.
Hey YO! Saint Seiya!
In Minecraft, Gold is soft, tools and armor made out of gold will break fast, but it can hold enchantments better than ther materials, alluding to the supernatural significance people give the incorruptability of gold.
Now, about Saint Seiya, I wonder if anyone else is curious to know more about the naming conventions of the series and how the Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese versions took some artistic liberties and kinda improved upon the original. This is an impression that I have about the series but it would be interesting to see someone like Metatron talk about it.
It would be really interesting! In Spanish the saints were turned into knights, and the cloths to armors
@@aero2486 Same as in portuguese. Or at least brazilian portuguese
Well, thats the closest we're going to get a Saint Seiya armor review
Regarding the idea that aqua regia would be a gold armour’s nemesis: no, it wouldn't be. While it does dissolve gold, it does so relatively slowly, especially if the gold has a low surface/volume ratio, like armour would have. And it does not only work for gold, it's quite a nasty substance that dissolves more or less anything, so you could say it's the nemesis of stainless steel armour with equal justification ... but in all likelihood spritzing your opponent in combat with acid would not end with dissolved armour, but with chemical burns of both them and yourself. Getting acid into the eyes isn't something you want to risk, unless the fight is asymmetric enough to be sure you'll end up dead otherwise.
Thanks for explaining the joke.
Still if you are defending a castle it might be good to keep the components for this on hand and make at least a buckets worth to dump on your attackers. Granted boiling water, sand, or tar would be just as useful and more on hand.
@@MandalorV7 Acids were quite costly. And buckets that would not dissolve even more. Wouldn't you feel stupid if you wanted to use this formidable weapon, only to find th bucket gone, it's remnants being part of the puddle that is eating its way trough the stone rampart?
@@MandalorV7 It doesn't store well, even under the most ideal conditions. Even today it's only made when needed.
On top of that it wasn't discovered until the early fourteenth century and reasonably efficient production wasn't possible for another 250 years.
... agreed. The comparatively fast man at arms with a more protective armor four times lighter and the suddenly so much more effective pollaxe would just upgrade from even matched nemesis.
Look up "Titanium Nitride", it is technically a ceramic, but it has the appearance of metalic gold and is very hard. It is used on many drill bits these days, as is Zerconium Nitride, which is similar but has a bit more of a greenish tint to it. In a Sci-Fi setting a gold suit could be some other material with a Titanium Nitride coating, or some composit matrix of Titanium Nitride and other materials.
Well the armors of all Saints in Saint Seiya, are made of Orichalcum and ancient alchemy, the terms Gold, Silver and Bronze are just the level of the Saint, the 12 Golden Armors being the ones that were refined by the light of the sun, so they're not really Gold.
Speaking of "gilded" armor, allow me to share this. Plutarch says something about the Macedonian unit Agema of the Hypaspist-Peltastai during the Battle of Pydna in the Third Macedonian War:
*"Next to these came a third division, picked men, the flower of the Macedonians themselves for youthful strength and valour, gleaming with gilded armour and fresh scarlet coats."*
Though frankly speaking, I think this probably says about these Macedonian panoplies being well polished. That being bronze or steel not really as in gold armor. I think that was sort of an exaggeration by Plutarch or his sources. That said, the armor of the Agematos would shine against the sun (it was also during noon when the battle was fought) creating a sort "gilded or silvered effect" in the eyes of the Roman eyewitnesses.
I dont see why Elite units couldnt have armor and equipment decorated in precious metals.
Do you know the words that gilded armor is translated from?
I think the source must be either mistranslated or just generally exaggerating.
I mean that part about gilded armor I might find viable. They were after all elite units, probably nobility to begin with, it doesn't take that much gold to cover a large surface (as Metatron said there, 1g for a square meter), Macedonians had so much gold coming from their mines it caused visible inflation, and gilded could mean something less than "armor just completely covered in gold". Could just be they had some decorative patterns made of gold.
But scarlet coats? That seems over the top to me. I mean, that stuff was considered too expensive for your average Roman general.
@@stanisawzokiewski3308 I don't think you can arm 2000 to 5000 Macedonians that kind of decorated armor. (the full active strength of the Macedonian Guard is about 5000-strong and possibly more in garrison reserves.) I mean you probably can with the senior officials or nobility but not with the force that size.
@Igor Hartmann Exactly my thoughts. Seeing from a possible distance and under the sun, the Macedonians i.e. the Agema and the Hypaspist-Peltastai would've had their panoplies from helmets to shields and greaves glitter like gold and silver.
Hence why the Romans would've took into account seeing "gilded" armor from the phalanx-lines of the Macedonians.
Thanks for the video! Big fan of the Knights of the Zodiac when I was a kid. Some great childhood memories. Even as an second grader, I would always think the Golden Cloth and the Silver Cloth as being gilded or plated. "Gold...that's kind of soft for armor, even magical ones, right?" I always had the image of Olympian athletes biting down their gold medals. If it can be dented by teeth, probably wouldn't be suitable to block attack launched in the speed of light.
Today I still think the partially gilded gothic armor is extreme attractive. Probably on selective components like the poleyns, the couters and paudrons and the sallet. Fully-gilded harness isn't really my thing even if I have the money to give up a yacht to have it made XD
In Saint Seiya/Knights of the Zodiac, the "Gold Cloths" armors aren't made purely of gold. They're made of an alloy combining gold and a magic metal called Orichalcum but the real reason why they're gold in color, is because they've been absorbing sunlight since the days of Myth.
The "Pimp my Ride" mentality is a time-honored tradition. And an ostentatious display of wealth by gilded or gold armor introduces another element: The person wearing that kind of armor is worth a HUGE ransom, so he is more valuable alive than dead. Not an insurance policy if the enemy really wants you dead, but the tradition of ransom is well documented.
The enemy can just capture you, take the armor off and kill you.
@@Likexner but if you have enough money to make a golden armor then you worth alive enough to get a ransom.
@@themerchantinblack6157 Oh, i see your point. That makes sense. However, what if you just spent so much on the armor that youre broke now? What if you spent the family fortune?
@@Likexner Then, my friend, you are truly f****d. If the enemy won't kill you, your family will! Lol, as I said it's not foolproof. But it might give your captor an incentive to keep you alive.
@@Likexner savvas explain it so read his comment.
The Emperor Protects
"Yes. He does."
IMPERATOR PROTEGIT
The Emperor Protects
A loaded bolter doesn't hurt either.
IMPERIVM INVICTA
The Man Emperor of Mankind finally reveals himself
PRAISE BE TO THE MAN EMPEROR OF MANKIND
First I laughed......then I got sad.
FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!!!!
@@MrSharpClaw Poor Kitten never got reunited with his Tau girlfriend. :(
The Emperor protects
You mean God Emperor you heretic!
The Golden armors in Saint seya are magic armors powered by the Sun and cosmos. They are not made to protect from atracks, but protect the users to use cosmos beyond the human limit and not be destroyed by its energy. But it was very interesting video
they are made to protect the user. in hyoga vs camus fight they talk how hyoga would need to reach absolute zero in order to bypass the gold cloth's defense.
The thumbnail makes me guess Metatron is a Gemini or just a fan of the Gemini Cloth.
Yup, gemini
@@metatronyt Show off... Says the jealous Taurus :(
@@metatronyt A video talking about the Saint Seiya's armors could be neat :).
Cancer gold cloth needs more good candidates, only has manigold and death mask atleast redeemed himself
@@metatronyt The only sign that is basically two persons.
I have to correct you here, Metatron.
Aqua Regia dissolves gold SLOWLY. It does not eat away gold like for example sulphuric acid eats away at toilet paper. I assume it was a joke, because you could fight any kind of king in any kind of armor, be it iron, gold or bronze with aqua regia, Although I think you would rather drown them in it than waiting for the acid to dissolve their armor. Just seems VERY impractical.
Loved the video though and apart from the chemistry thing, you really hit the nail on the head again. Thank you so much! Much respect and love from Germany!
Ahah yes the Aqua regia potion thing was more of a joke on sain seiya guys. It's true It would be slow. Still, while the king/saint sleeps you could put his wonderful full gold armour in Aqua regia and bye bye
Raph, I would like to thank you , Skal, Matt, Shad, and a few others for helping me through the difficult time I'm going through, I lost my mother on October 31, and you guys really help me keep going, thank you
It is my true pleasure. Stay strong
@@metatronyt, thank you Raph, much appreciated
sympathies for your loss
Bro, it was nice meeting you at Best Buy!!! I was kind of skeptical when you told me about ur channel and the subjects you talked about. But I'm blown away of the knowledge and you kepted me hooked, wanting to hear more. Keep up the good work and enjoy the console!
Metatron with Gemini Gold Cloth Is overpower 😁
IKR,😁
And he rocks it, granted Gemni is one of my personal favorite gold clothes
@@GranWarlorckEnmaryu Mine too
@@PaoloSpartano even though I'm a capricorn(but my personal Favorite is Aquarius or how I like to call it Elfy)
@@GranWarlorckEnmaryu Mine Is Virgo but Gemini Is the strongest in my opinion 💪🏻🔥
"Hardness and weight" Toughness is important as well. There is no point of having hard armor that is brittle and gets shattered by a mace.
Did anybody else think of Gilgamesh's armor when seeing the video?
Anyway, I think it is fascinating the types of metals used for armor and weapons so this was very fascinating.
As a geologist I can say this is the best video about gold I have ever seen. Very well explained and golden armor is interestinc example. Thank you Metatron 😊👍
Aqua regia wouldn't have been a huge weakness to gold armour compared to steel. For one thing if you throw acid on anyone it's a problem even their armour doesn't dissolve. But the armour wouldn't dissolve quickly at all. And iron dissolves in hydrochloric acid without it being a huge weakness of steel armour.
It's kind of like saying a stake through the heart is a weakness of a vampire. Sure, it'll kill them, but it would also kill pretty much anyone else.
Saint Seyia, a childhood favourite in French TV!
"Make armor that needs no maintenance."
Bruh. You're a king or an emperor. Your slaves probably own slaves. Maintenance isn't the issue.
Incredible video as always Metatron! As a an educated chemist with a keen interest in history I was really impressed by your analysis of the physical properties and crystalline structures of gold vs other metals when used in armour. Your broad knowledge is unmatched. One minor correction, modern gold armour is electrochemically plated, as opposed to electromagnetically. I've really gotten into your channel recently, keep speaking the truth man :) lots of love from the UK ♥️🇬🇧🇮🇹
I’m a simple man, I see Metatron wearing Gemini Saint Armor, I click on the video.
Any other Saint Seiya/Caballeros Del Zodiaco fans out there?
Bonjour
firstly sorry for the late reply then secondly Greetings from Brazil, that Anime was Massive here, so of course there is another Saint Saiya (Cavaleiros do Zodiaco) fan lurking herere
Nice video, love the Saint Seiya's references my favorite anime! video idea best or most functional armors (or cloths) from Saint Seiya!
Before someone mentions it, the glorious Man-Emperor of Mankind does not wear gold armor.
His armor is made of aumarite, a composite ceramic that is extremely durable but looks almost indistinguishable from gold. It is able to withstand directed energy weapons and traditional kinetic projectiles along with hits of melee weapons.
The irony of the material used called aumarite, which uses au, the first letters of aurum.
As if our glorious Emperor needs anything more than his divine intuition, Big E could smoke Horus waring nothing more than a loin cloth and a smile
@@bushyfromoz8834 Sooo... how's that workin' out for him so far?
@@anthonylamonica8301 he's not dead, he's just pining for the fijords
Thank you, especially for the details. So clearly put!
I'm glad you liked it
where can I put 50 000 likes for the use of Gemini Cloth in the thumbnail ?
Saint Seiya is MY ultimate manga and it's SO RARE to see someone knowing about it. But you are Italian, I had an italian girlfriend who told me Saint Seiya was huge too in Italy.
Yes It was particularly for my generation. I've watched it all and collect some action figures too. Of course I have all the games.
@@metatronyt I dont know how old you are, but I'm from 86 and my generation was into Saint Seiya a lot (France). It's one of our generation king. And my personnal favorite :)
84 here from poland. A lot of Anime in the 90's in Poland were either of French or Italian dub since it was easy to translate from european languages (more translators = lower price) Saint seiya and Dragonball were french dubs and General Daimos, Yattaman and others were Italian dub that got translated into Polish. You could hear the French or Italian in the background while the Polish lector sopke the dialog lines in Polish. (1 lector did all the voiceover)
@@Camuska , also in Latin America was really massive here around 94.
As a Bulgarian I'm eagerly anticipating your video about the Varna treasure!
Gold Saint Metatron
What Constellation?
@@ousamadearudesuwa Gemini ♊ because thumbnail 😂
I'm from Varna . thanks for mentioning it. :) I often went to the museum. The gold is very beautiful. Thracian gold is also worth seeing there
In Europe partially gilded armour certainly existed in the Renaissance period and during the early modern era. We have some surviving examples to prove their existance after the European middle ages (look at the armoury of King Henry VIII of England, for example). These arnours very probably were not used in warfare and probably not even in tournaments/sports but certainly during parades.
Pure gold armour is possible (we have huge amounts of surviving medieval golden items, such as rings and church decoration), but I've never seen nor read nor heard of any European armour made of pure gold.
There would be no reason for a commander, whose only function once battle was joined was stand or sit on his horse out of arrow range being seen to boost morale, to not wear his flashiest harness which might be gold.
It wouldn't be 24K gold. That's the purest and softest grade. For durability, it must be a gold alloy. In which case, why not gild regular armor?
Gold is 750 pounds per cubic foot.
The only non-radioactive metal that is heavier is lead, 1000 pounds per cubic foot.
Still wanna make armor out of solid gold?
--
Metatron is saying ‘gilt’ not solid. Might add a pound to the armor weight but would tend to flake off over time.
Not too pretty after flaking off for a year !
Gilded armour was 100% used on the battlefield, having fancy armor tells your opponent "that man looks wealthy, lets ransom them instead of killing them"
@@typhus7796
Only works when there is room for negotiations between fighting nations.
When not, then gold gilt armor says ‘kill him and send his armor to his King in order to frighten the King into surrender.’
Almost everything is a two-edged weapon, when dealing with wars.
I´m here because of Gemini, Saga. The "Gold Cloths" (or any of the cloths) were made of: Stardust Sand, Oricalco and Gammanium. No gold was used, just fictional metals.
Metatron is the god-emperor of mankind confirmed
Heresy. The god emperor is at least 13feet tall.
I love how you change outfits when discussing specifics about gold
Short answer:no
Long answer: hell no
Damn I love your content. Loved the chemistry background
God Emperor of mankind revealing himself to humanity to tell them about his glorious armor in 2021 colorized
Nice Saint Seiya reference on the thumbnail! Galaxian Explosion!!!
Metatron: You can't have effective armor made out of gold, it's against the rules.
Gilgamesh: I AM THE RULES!
Man-Emperor: Amateurs
@@akumaking1 Saga: hold my cape
Gold is also too ductile for this purpose. Even if a person were strong enough to carry the weight of a golden panoply and wore it only for display and not combat, the suit would become unwearable over time because it would become distorted by its own weight. The ancients quickly learned that pure gold made impractical coins for normal commerce, consequently the preference for silver coinage for most denominations. However, there is an alloy of gold called electrum that was often used by the nations and empires of the Hellenistic Age for high-value currency. (Electrum derives its name from the Greek word for amber and is related to our modern term, electricity, for the same reason. Early demonstrations of static electricity were done by rubbing an amber rod with fur or fleece. Having no idea what was really going on the observers concluded that the resultant sparks were a property of the amber, hence "electricity".)
Electrum, like brass and bronze, is not a fixed formulation, but it is mostly composed of gold alloyed with silver. Other metals were also added -- copper, platinum, nickel, and others in trace amounts. The amount of gold in ancient electrum varied from around 75% to as low as 40%. Electrum containing 70% or more of gold is difficult to tell from fine gold by visual inspection -- it is brilliantly yellow, heavy, and resistant to oxidation, but it is also much harder, thus making electrum much more suitable to retain an embossed design, like the image of a god or monarch on the obverse side of an ancient coin. Most of the coins we have from antiquity are electrum or silver rather than fine gold for that reason. A suit of 15th-century armor could be made from electrum and retain its shape over time and resist tarnishing, but it would be crazy heavy -- 350 to 400 pounds versus about 65 pounds in the best-made Gothic-style panoplies from ca. 1480.
In german Zwinger Museum in Dresden ( Saxony) there is the weapon collection of former royal saxon dynasty, which was rather rich. There are some very expensive decorated suits of armor, not intended for combat. When i remember correct, there was a ,half armor' for Kolbenschlagturnier ( mace tournament?) on foot, made of silver. In this kind of tournament the two oppoments had to beat away the opponents helmet decoration with a kind of twohanded club.
Loved the Gold Saint reference, heheh! Was that Saga of Gemini? Or Kanon...?
Why didn't the egos of Rome ever create a golden gladius? Yes, I know a sword made from gold would have been a horrible combat weapon, heavy, expensive, and impractical...but we are talking about the egos of Rome. ;o) If only for ceremony, Romans had the gold, the skills and ability, and the desire for over the top demonstrations of wealth and power. A golden gladius, or a gladius covered in gold (gilded) would have been perfect for this desire. I don't think I've ever heard of one, is there a golden gladius?
I think the short answer here is that swords and scabbards were certainly decorated but the blades themselves were kept very practical.
@@angeleyes2c Swords meant to be used as swords had to have practical blades but swords for knighting someone with or being part of being knighted or being burried with could be as decorative as desired. Also commanders swords were to be seen not used.
I learned many years ago from Lysandros di Spartica, a college student medieval reenactment, that bronze swords are actually sharper than steel ones - for the first few blows.
It was amazing watching a fully dressed and partially armored Spartan chase a squirrel thtough an outdoor restaurant with a bronze short sword.
@@angeleyes2c Hello there, oh I agree 100% with you that it wouldn't be practical. At best, this type of sword would be a very heavy wall hanger, or maybe something like a ceremonial "sword of Rome" situation that would only be brought out for official or religious functions...that type of thing. I'm just surprised it was never done that we know of. It wouldn't be "unlike" them as they did make massive and outrageous things out of solid gold. They had the materials, ability, and grandiose personalities. I just find it odd they didn't do it more.
@@unarealtaragionevole It's possible they did make some, but it didn't survive, because it was made of gold. As far as I know, people in the middle ages didn't really care about "old stuff" as we do today, for them a golden gladius would be worth as much as any other piece of gold and would most likely be recycled.
being a warhammer empire collector i have always wondered about this.
By the Emperor, gold is the superior color
Amazing video! Thank you for the upload.
Santuary master metatron of gemini. 😉
This is another grand and educational illumination. Thank you for wonderfully spreading your wings again, Metatron.
I clicked onto this knowing full well that the Emperor was gonna be all over the comments....and rightly so.
I always like your presentations but I don't know what it is. This time u were immaculate. Your balance of fact-based and succinct information mixed with quick quips at the end of your examples was so well balanced and timed that it sounded great to my ears that it was an unusual pleasure that stood out above the rest of ur vids. I commented for once. lol
Theoretically how would a suit of diamond do? Maybe even partial diamond on top of a steel or titanium plate
Diamond is stupid hard but also stupid brittle (in certain directions along its crystal structure). Gemcutters use specialized steel knives to cleave large diamonds into smaller ones. Bonding diamond to steel is... complicated, and the first time the steel flexes (or changes temperature) the diamond will jump off because the bonding is so weak and because steels have different thermal coefficients of expansion from diamond.
Solid diamond armor would look cool but would be easy to cleave into chunks with large edged weapons like swords, axes or bills.
Certain ceramics like cubic boron nitride or tungsten carbide would work a lot better than diamond (nearly as hard as diamond and a lot harder to cleave than diamond) but wouldn't look as cool even though some have a gold-ish color but without metallic luster. Unfortunately many of them are also much denser than steel.
How would you even make an armour out of diamond though ? As far as I know it can't really be melted and reshaped like metals.
@@CyberVonCyberus Diamond can be made by Chemical Vapor Deposition (look it up) as plates a few centimeters across, so you'd have to expand that process to make them up to a meter or so across, then shape them into usable armor pieces.
@@markfergerson2145 Oh I see, fascinating.
@@CyberVonCyberus Well, I'm a tech geek so I follow this stuff. Glad I could help.
I love your channel, I've been following it for years and it still feel fresh, it's very educative and entertaining. You are priceless my brother, keep the good work and big thank you for all these years.
Americans will say 40k but the real ones know he's talking about saint seya
This Canadian, too. It's a guilty pleasure. I've finally collected the entire original manga.
Dont forget Latin America
@@wingofshu that's exactly who I was referring to. I'm Brazilian
Wow what a great video, thoroughly enjoyed it an fascinating information. Thank you Meta love these types of videos. Keep doing you!
My very pleasure!
It seems to me that anytime something unique is discovered, archeologists clasify it as ceremonial. It's the same case with ancient buildings. It's always a tomb, or a temple. Like all we ever did was die amd pray to God.
People were just as vain as they are today. And although primitive to our standards, they were not dumber than we are today.
An interesting and educational video. I appreciate it.
Love the learning that talks place on this channel
Have you ever tried blueing steel by heattreating it?
Well, luckily in todays world we have an electric oven in almost every kitchen, their maximum temperature is usually around 220° Celsius. and that is exactly the range we need to get an entire rainbow of beautiful colours from yellow to red to purple to different shades of the most magnificient metallic blue on any steel surface. To make your first experiments you need nothing more than a handfull of ordinary nails, they usualy are made of steel in a wide array of different qualities but identical if from the same batch. That makes them ideal to run tests with them. Depending on the alloy and the effort you make to polish the metal surface you are up to see tons of stunning results.
Why do I talk about blueing steel? Well if knights were serious in the game of "Pimp my armour" and which knight wasn't, they'd go for that ultimate princely look you get when you combine the magnificent deep blue steel with guilded ornamentations.
And yes, you're right on track to become a master, just with a handfull of nails and the regular electric oven in your Mom's kitchen. Blued steel can also be combined with brass, polish it with your best effort and it WILL shine brighter and brighter till you finally start believing yourself that it might indeed be real gold!
No self respecting cook or chef will use an electric stove or oven, they are simply terrible for heat control among other issues.
@@whispersinthedark88 Gordon effing Ramsay, you'll effing use the effing oven and effing stove you've been effing given! Effing stop effing complaining you effing whining effing *beeeeep* XD
@@thhseeking Dear Im an adult, I haven't been given anything I worked hard to buy the tools I find best suited for the job. There are very real reasons why we as professional cooks/chefs use what we use, and you will never find a restaurant kitchen using electric. Stating a fact is not complaining.
The comment is basically an inside joke left for any fellow cooks as when we read things like this one of the first things to cross our minds is "electric stove/oven? Hell no!" ,because we cannot stand them. Back when I was still a renter I would turn down apartments that had electric stoves...lol
But hey I guess I cant blame a kid who doesn't know how to cook when a kitchen joke goes over your head... C'est la vie
Great video, amazing channel! I sincerely enjoy watching your videos and appreciate the research and effort out into them. Keep up the good work, Noble One!
"From ancient Terra the Emperor commands His proud sons..."
One of the most impactful things I ever saw on a screen as a child was the Gemini Golden cloth/amour appearing in front of Hyoga and Shun in the Seiya.
First of all Aries and Taurus talked about how Gemini is the most terrible opponent and that nobody has ever seen him. We knew the Patriarch was a gold saint by now and when time came there he was. With the music of "Beautiful Gold Saints" the Gemini Cloth/Armour walking by itself while being controlled by the Patriarch from another location.
It was scary. As kids those of us in the 90s were legitimately scared for the characters
Hate to disagree with you, but electroplating was used as far back as the Bronze Age. It's even mentioned by Heroditus and Plutarch (albeit crudely, since neither were craftsmen). What do you think all those ancient Greek vinegar batteries were for? ;-)
Love you channel my man. I always learn new and interesting things.
I wish I could be as cool and cheek-clappingly badass as the Metatron! All of you, bow!!! Bow down before the king of all historians!!!!
Lol, No.
I wanted to see Gemini Metatron. XD I still got a Saint Seiya reference. I'm so happy. :D
Me before even watching the video: "It must be ceremonial!"
You are a fascinating mystery and i'm so happy your channel is growing you've shown incredible knowledge in your field of passion. so happy for u :)
Actually solid gold armor in the middle ages would be the best defense on a battlefield. What better way to not get dead than to show how much you are worth for a ransom. Your enemy wouldn't use weapons against you, just try to grapple you to the ground and take you prisoner.
Just take the armor, it would be worth a king's ransom itself. The actual ransom would be a bonus.
In the Bible a king of Israel is killed by a random arrow while disguised to avoid intentional attack.
Practically your clear identification as a valuable hostage might protect you from intentional attacks but anyone even acknowledged noncombatants could be killed in combat.
I studdy Alchemy. I absolutely love this video, and I really want you to do a video on Alchemy now.
If you're rich enough, then you would absolutely make a ceremony for "I'm stupidly rich, send me the girls."
Or is it just me?
Excellent stuff, but I would suggest if you slowed down a little. You sound like you’re in a hurry or trying to recreate a micro machines commercial. Love your stuff.
More pressing matter: would a golden toilet seat work? Would my ass cheeks leave a mold in the malleable metal? If so, is that really an issue?
No, but can I come over and use your bathroom please?
Depends on part how much you weigh, and what force you sit on the loo with. I can't imagine body temp is enough to cause deformation on its own
@@michaelsorensen7567 If he lets me use his bathroom, he won't have to worry about any of these things.
Sadam Hussein really had gold toilets in his palaces, at least the one at the airport. Pictures were published.
I was expecting a bit more Knights of the Zodiac references but still great video! thank you
In Oathlords there is a drake with breath that turns gold to "fiery gold". So you have to fight it in really bad, heavy gold armor, but you can come out of it with really good armor, since fiery gold is harder than bronze and softer than mithril (which is softer than steel... something rarely seen in the game world.)
Gemini no Saga!!!1 Great video mate!
Very good explanation of the mechanical properties! Gold isn't very useful for protection, but has great thermal conductivity, so it's used in heatsinks when cost is no object.
Another thing that strengthens steel compared to pure iron is that carbon atoms are larger than the spaces in-between iron atoms, which creates tensions and increases elastic resistance.
Armor really does need to be as hard as possible, though. Plastic deformation could press the wearer's body. Also, depending on the weapon, different hardness measurements are more useful (pike vs mace for example).
This is great, I was hoping you made a video related to the Gold Cloths from Saint Seiya. I still would like to hear your opinion on their functionality (assuming the aspects like weight and softness of gold you mentioned could be ignored). How would they compare to real historic armor. Thanks!
Just putting this out there for you to consider and work out the availability of ingredients, When I was in the RAF (too many years ago) i worked in a mechanical workshop, when we needed to make an item manufactured in mild steel have some resistance to corrosion, we used to heat the item until it was cherry red and then submerged it in used engine oil (dirtier the better) and let it cool, the result was a fairly corrosion resistant item which had a gold tint, now not saying used engine oil was available but a substitute could be made high in carbon i'm sure.
This is why gold armor can only exist in fantasy. Great video, Metatron. I hope to own some gold of my own.
Nice work, waiting for the video on the mysterious tribe that had the gold
I enjoy every video you make metatron!
NOPE!! BTW - I LOVE THIS CHANNEL! I appreciate the fact that your calm and open to discussion. The truth. When it comes to human history we actually know very little. We all come from the source. What we know to be true today can change tomorrow. Keep on going Guardian Angel of history!
Very good and Informative video. Having studied material science, it is apparent that you have done a lot of research on the subject matter. One small nitpick, at about 6:30 you say that every metal has its own crystaline structure. That is not necessarily true. There are a handful of the same crystal structures that elements can take. Often times the same element can have different crystal structures with different properties. Still, awesome video :)
Well never mind, you went into it right after :p
A video about Varna-culture? Awesome!
You should have interviewed Saori Kido about that
As a Materials engineer I can say that your knowledge of metals and material science is great!!
To be fair, Gold Cloths are not only made of gold, they are also made of the Sun's power, stardust's sand and are all blessed with Athena's cosmos. These makes them the most powerful armors of the universe, just below of the God Cloths,