A metal gasket includes embossments that exhibit essentially full functional recovery and full retained internal stress at temperatures up to about 1000° F. which is made from sheet material that is cold rolled and whose embossments are work hardened without any post embossment heat treating that would act to harden the material. This material may also receive a precipitation hardening heat treatment prior to being embossed. The gasket materials include alloys having greater than about 18% Ni, greater than about 14% Cr, from about 0.1 to 10% of at least one of Mo, Ti, V, Al, Co, Nb, Ta or Cu and the balance Fe with incidental impurities, which are cold rolled without any post embossment heat treating that would act to harden the material.