"Beaconsfield" medallion, manganese steel, 1882-1884

Sir Robert Hadfield was an English metallurgist and industrialist and was born in Sheffield in 1858. He discovered valuable new steel alloys including Hadfield's steel. Mushet had tried to improve Bessemer steel, but Hadfield discovered that by adding 12-14% of manganese to the steel and then heating it to 1000 degrees C, followed by quenching, produced an immensely tough and wear-resistant steel.This steel is suitable for rock-crushing equipment and railway points as the more it is worked the harder it becomes.