This paper describes the use of acoustic emission monitoring during the shear punch tests to reduce the error involved in the estimation of mechanical property data, especially in the yield strength and strain hardening exponent. Tests have been carried out on a range of materials including AISI type 304 stainless steel containing various amounts of cold work. These data from the shear punch test are compared with tensile property measurements on identical materials. The on-line monitoring capability of acoustic emission technique has been successfully utilized for accurate evaluation of mechanical property data from the shear punch tests.