Through metallurgy, metals can be found and worked. This is the branch that science, technology and art use to obtain industrial metals and minerals, starting from the mines, to help human kind.
First came copper, beaten and melted in the oven, to later be emptied in molds, permitting for the manufacturing of higher quality tools, in greater amounts. This is how the Bronze Age from the Metal Age of humanity came to be.
Through experience, different alloys were created – that is to say, the combination of two or more metals with the appropriate properties. This is how steel came to be, and with it, a new way of life for humankind.
Steel is more malleable, hard and resistant than copper, but unlike the latter, it requires higher temperatures to melt, and greater resources to mold. For this reason, not all people could make use of this precious metal.
Metals, metals, metals. How important they are for the creation of all types of objects – especially those associated with prestige and glitz.
Metals that were able to substitute stone, bone and wood tools for some more resistant to heat and cold, like bronze and that ever-popular steel.
Steel helped create weapons, tools, pots, accessories – both for personal use, and of religious importance – helped improve agriculture, create specialized work, and increased metalworking techniques.
Once precious metal purification techniques were perfected, the minting of coins begin.
Coins, resistant and of uniform weight and composition, made from minted metal in the shape of a disc and with the pertinent details as chosen by the appropriate authorities, which later became the most important payment method.
In romance languages, they are called “moneta”, latin word that comes from the place in which they were minted in Rome, an annex to the temple of Juno Moneta, goddess of memory, and protector of the craft.
In conclusion, steel owes a lot to the metals that preceded it, copper and bronze. But quickly, and in time, became a desirable metal, due to its malleability, strength and resistance, but also due to its close relationship with prestige and glamour.
