Ironclad Patriotism

When Germans Gave Up Their Gold Jewelry To Battle Napoleon

Collectors Weekly has a short piece on Berlin Iron, the darkly beautiful lost-wax-cast iron jewelry from Germany. In the early years of the 19th century, citizens of what is now Germany, then called Prussia, were called upon by members of the royal family to exchange their gold and silver jewelry for Gothic-looking pieces of ornamental iron jewelry.

The precious metals were sold to finance Prussia's part in the Napoleonic Wars, which raged across Europe and beyond from 1803 to 1815.