Silverpoint (more broadly, "metal point") drawing is an archaic medium which reached its peak in the Renaissance period.

Very early in the history of writing, scribes would use metal stylii to make marks in and on a variety of permanent and temporary media, including wax and clay tablets.

Wealthy and royal persons who needed to keep records (business inventories and so forth) employed these scribes, and the stylus material served as notice to all of the status of the employer - gold and silver for the upper classes, lead for somewhat lesser beings.   More detail...