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<blockquote data-quote="Dorian_Grey" data-source="post: 7158327" data-attributes="member: 6801878">I couldn't find any population/usage numbers, but interestingly enough there is a considerable difference between low/high quality (which was the original point on how plate mail came up). <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aams/hd_aams.htm" target="_blank">http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aams/hd_aams.htm</a>Super high quality pieces, from masters of the art, were rare and expensive. One craftsman got 1200 gold coins for a suit according to the museum I linked above, and that would have been the equivalent of 12 years of wages for a court official. An armory for a knight (all weapons and armor) was calculated as three years of wages for a skilled laborer. In today's terms, that's probably around $200k to $300k. As a result, specialty made pieces were rare. However, second hand and obsolete armor pieces were readily available as &quot;ready to wear&quot; pieces. They weren't crafted for you or to your specification, but they were available. So both rare (high value) and common (low value).Interesting Edit: So one of the side notes they include is that a helmet would be about the equivalent of a cow. A cow today can cost anywhere from $900 to $3000 for a low production animal suitable for individual/family use (not a cow for use in an industrial dairy - assuming you're aiming for a dairy animal and not a slaughter animal), which would be about 1% of the total armory cost. Considering that the armory in question was huge that seems about right! Neat!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dorian_Grey, post: 7158327, member: 6801878"] I couldn't find any population/usage numbers, but interestingly enough there is a considerable difference between low/high quality (which was the original point on how plate mail came up). [URL]http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aams/hd_aams.htm[/URL] Super high quality pieces, from masters of the art, were rare and expensive. One craftsman got 1200 gold coins for a suit according to the museum I linked above, and that would have been the equivalent of 12 years of wages for a court official. An armory for a knight (all weapons and armor) was calculated as three years of wages for a skilled laborer. In today's terms, that's probably around $200k to $300k. As a result, specialty made pieces were rare. However, second hand and obsolete armor pieces were readily available as "ready to wear" pieces. They weren't crafted for you or to your specification, but they were available. So both rare (high value) and common (low value). Interesting Edit: So one of the side notes they include is that a helmet would be about the equivalent of a cow. A cow today can cost anywhere from $900 to $3000 for a low production animal suitable for individual/family use (not a cow for use in an industrial dairy - assuming you're aiming for a dairy animal and not a slaughter animal), which would be about 1% of the total armory cost. Considering that the armory in question was huge that seems about right! Neat! [/QUOTE]

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