Are Your Metals as Strong as Wonder Woman?

If you’re a fan of superhero movies, you’ve probably seen the recently released trailer for the Wonder Woman solo movie coming out next year. It shows many clips of her leaping into battle and using her gauntlets to send bullets ricocheting away. To understand the strength behind these gauntlets, we have to dig into the origin story of Diana Prince.

Diana comes from a race of Amazon women living on Paradise Island. These women were “reborn” when the Greek Olympian goddesses recalled the souls of women who had been murdered by men. Queen Hippolyta was instructed to mold a baby girl out of clay, which was then given life by the gods and goddesses of the Greek Pantheon. Diana became the first Amazon who was not originally born of man.

The gods and goddesses each granted Diana with gifts. She received strength, wisdom, courage, speed, flight, beauty, and other qualities that helped her eventually become the superhero we know as Wonder Woman. She was also gifted her Lasso of Truth and her gauntlets, known as the Bracelets of Victory.

These indestructible gauntlets were forged by Hephaestus from the remains of Zeus’ Aegis shield. The strength of the gauntlets allow Diana to deflect projectiles, punches, and energy blasts. When crossed in front of her body, the gauntlets generate an impenetrable energy shield that Diana can use for protection.

Equipped with a warrior’s spirit and the gifts that were bestowed upon her, Diana is given the mission to journey to man’s world on a mission of diplomacy and peace. It’s there that she takes on the mantle of Wonder Woman and becomes one of the greatest heroes in the DC universe.

The sight of bullets pinging effortlessly off Wonder Woman’s gauntlets in the movie trailer brought up the notion of metal strength. We may not have a metal as strong as these fictional gauntlets, but we do have steel and an assortment of other metals. How do precious metals stack up to the competition?

The strength and hardness of metals and other elements can be tested and quantified in several different ways. Metal strength is characterized by how much impact, compression, tearing, and other types of force a metal can withstand before becoming irreparably damaged.

In terms of pure metals, tungsten is the strongest natural metal. This dense metal is used for electrical applications, military needs, and it’s also a common component in steel for added strength. The strongest alloy—a metal made by combining multiple metallic elements to achieve more strength and/or corrosion resistance—is steel.

The hardness—or resistance to scratching—of a metal is determined most commonly with a type of scratch test called Mohs Hardness Test. The harder the metal, the less it will scratch. And while less scratching may be attractive (especially for making jewelry and other decorative items), a hard metal is also more difficult to work with.

According to the Mohs Scale of Hardness, minerals and metals are ranked from 1 to 10—with 10 being the hardest. Many metals are mixed or plated with others to make them stronger or easier to work with. After all, you wouldn’t want the metal band holding your ring’s diamonds to be get damaged easily.

In their pure state, metals have these ratings on the Mohs scale:

• Gold and silver: 2.5 to 3
• Copper, brass, and bronze: 3
• Nickel: 4
• Platinum and steel: 4 to 4.5
• Iron: 4.5
• Palladium: 4.75
• Rhodium and titanium: 6
• Hardened steel: 7 to 8
• Tungsten: 7.5
• Chromium: 8.5

When mixed with alloys, these metals can achieve much greater strength while still retaining their original luster. In fact, the American Gold Eagle and the South African Gold Krugerrand are alloyed to give the coins more durability. Each of these coins is composed primarily of gold, with small amounts of harder metals to help them withstand the test of time.

None of these metals can stop a speeding bullet like Wonder Woman’s gauntlets, but they can add to your financial might when you diversify your investment portfolio with precious metals. Superhero fans will delight in the 2016 1 oz Silver Superman S-Shield Coin as both an investment tool and a unique addition to your collection of heroic memorabilia.

Super strength is a common power in the world of heroes. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?