Research on a fine medieval German mail shirt.

[Swordfish]

It was sold some days ago at an auction in Germany for more than Euro 10.000 including premium. I am very familiar with it, because it was once in my possession. I have examined it carefully and have removed a single ring for close examination. The shirt is manufactured of a close mesh of small riveted rings with an equal outside diam. of c. 8.5-9.0 mm, a sligtly flattened wire with a thickness of 0.9 mm and a width of 1.2 mm. A single ring weighs 0.2122g. It is a long (85cm) and heavy shirt with half length sleeves. The rings are made of hardened steel. The weight of the whole shirt is 10.1 kg, it is therefore constructed of more than 47.000 rings. As mentioned in the preceding posts, I believe that shirts with a considerable higher number of rings as this are not made for fighting, but only for celebration purposes.

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