Pin

[3] Many later pins were made of brass, a relatively hard and ductile metal that became available during the Bronze Age.

However, this took many months or even years to happen, and as nickel plated steel pins were usually used only temporarily to hold cloth in place prior to sewing, no further refinement has been considered necessary.

[4] A pinners guild was first established in London in 1356, spreading to other towns, but falling short of the quality produced by French pinmakers, discussed in the Art de l'épinglier (French: Art de l'épinglier, lit.

'Pin art') (1761) where Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau gives details about the division of labor used by French pinmakers:[5][6] There is nobody who is not surprised of the small price of pins; but we shall be even more surprised, when we know how many different operations, most of them very delicate, are mandatory to make a good pin.Adam Smith described the manufacture of pins as part of his discussion about the division of labor in the Wealth of Nations.

He sold the rights to his invention to pay a debt to a friend,[7] not knowing that he could have made millions of dollars.