Byzantines used mostly gold, silver, bronze, lead and iron. They were also applying gold, silver and tin leaf to other metals in order to obtain imitations of gold and silver. Related metallic effects were gained by glazes and glosses added to ceramics, while glass objects copied those in metal, perhaps eventually replacing some domestic gold and silver plate.

Precious metals were sometimes counterfeited, and therefore a touchstome was used by the silversmith to test for purity. Metals were exctracted from mines, but also widley recycled, especially for coins.

At least in the 4th century, metals were transported by the state in the form of ingots. State metalworking extended to gold, silver and bronwe coinds, gold medaillions, largitio dishes, jewelry, weapons and armor. From the 4th to the 7th or 8th century, some silver objects were marked with imperial silver stamps. Lead seals were produced for civil, military and ecclesiastical officials of all ranks. Public and private metalworking establishmets were functioning simultaneously. The Book of Eparch mentions that the independant goldsmiths were grouped together on the Mese, while the Coppersmiths were located near the Chalkoprateia church.

Byzantine metalwork generally preserved Roman techniques, with the notable exception of the manufacture of large-scale bronze statuary, which had ceased by the early 7th C. Techniques that did continue included the application of hammered sheets of gold, silver, and bronze to furniture and architectural members as metal revetments and the related treatment of doors. The survival of advanced metalworking techniques is suggested by the existence of automata. Smaller scale Byzantine metalwork included the production of gold plates used from the 8th century onward in making enamels; domestic plate, household fittings, utensils, and liturgical vessels in silver and bronze produced by both hammering and casting techniques; and forged iron tools. Gold and silver objects display diverse techniques of decoration, for example, raising decoration from the reverse (repousse) or from the front (engraving and chasing) and openwork (as on the Antioch “Chalice”); embellishments, included gilding and inlaying of details in niello and encrustation with gems or enameled plaques. Techniques used for jewelry were likewise varied.

In contrast to the investigation of 4th~7th C. silver and bronze, so far very little scientific research has been undertaken on works of the 9th century and later. The account in De ceremoniis of the preparation for the Cretan campaign of 960-61 is extremely useful for the list of implements and weapons it provides, for some information about their cost and the quantity, as well as for the cost of lead, copper, and tin. It is clear, however, that the size and weight of cast bronzes was reduced and silver usually employed only in thin sheets after the 9th century. In the 15th century, Bessarion complained that metalwork was no longer to be expected in Byzantium.