Roman Metal Armour-Polished or Dull?

[Magnus]

The kalkriese seg was tinned.....or at least some of the buckles I believe.
So shiney would be a byproduct.....and impressive on the field. True the shield would cover most of you in final battle formations, but as you approached and faced off with the enemy, your scuta would be to your side....giving the sad sods facing you a good view of what they don't have...

Good point Byron. I wonder if all the segs were tinned...makes sense to me to do so given the benefits of it. And fixing dings and scratches would be easy.

Anyone know how available tin was to the Romans?