Crosby Garrett Helmet some point the helmet was repaired using a bronze sheet which was riveted across two splits. Only two other Roman helmets complete with visors have been found in Britain – the Newstead Helmet and Ribchester Helmet. The helmet and visor were cast from an alloy consisting of an average of 82% copper, 10% zinc and 8% tin. This alloy was probably derived from melted-down scrap brass with a low zinc content, with which some tin had been added to improve the quality of the casting. Some of the fragments show traces of a white metal coating, indicating that the visor
Chinese sun and moon mirrors most (1 part tin per 1 part copper) for "metallic mirrors", namely, the "jiànsuì" 鑒燧 "mirror-igniter" alloy (Hirth 1907: 217-218). However, these ratios are based on Chinese numerology instead of practical metallurgy. Beyond about 32% the alloy becomes excessively brittle, and increasing tin content brings no further advantages of any kind; this the Han metallurgists evidently knew. Indeed they knew much more, for they almost always added up to 9% of lead, a constituent which greatly improved the casting properties. Han specular metal is truly white, reflects without tinning or silvering, resists scratching and corrosion well, and was admirably adapted