Artifacts recovered from historic shipwrecks off the Western Australian coast provide a wealth of information regarding the composition of metal alloys used in the manufacture of ordnance and domestic objects. One effect of continued exposure to the corrosive environment of warm seawater is that flaws in casting and problems of internal corrosion become readily apparent after several centuries. This paper reports on the range of alloys used in the manufacture of artifacts which date from the 17th to the late 19th century. -- AATA