The catalogue prices of simple platinum manufactures may provide the closest approximation for pure ingot prices. The Troy Ounce Price of refined Platinum may be estimated from the prices of a "platinum crucibles."
From the 1838 price list, the grain-weight may be ascertained from the tables below (products of same size & volume) at 480 grains per Troy Ounce:
1838: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (manufactured, whols.) ~ £ 1.45 (USD$ 7.07)
Citation: Chemical recreations: a compendium of experimental chemistry By John Joseph Griffin (1838) p.303.
Despite a period of deflation (-16%) in the UK, the average price of Platinum manufactures rose ~35%.
1852: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (manufactured, whols.) ~ £ 1.53 (USD$ 7.50)
Citation: Gold-mining and assaying: a scientific guide for Australian emigrants, (1852) p.171
By 1866, the same catalogue sold crucibles by grain weight. The nominal average price had risen with inflation (+26%), but the cost of manufactured Platinum remained flat, 1852-66. Despite increasing demand, the inflation-adjusted price for refined product was about the same. (The producer price of platinum hit a LOW in 1866; retail prices appear to have bottomed in 1873.)
1865/6: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (manufactured, retail ) = £ 1.65 (USD$ 11.35)
Citation: Chemical handicraft: a classified and descriptive catalogue of chemical... By John Joseph Griffin (1866) p.136.
At the imported rate, the hypothetical US retail price for platinum ingot may be reasonably approximated.
1838: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (semi-mfg, whols.) ~ $ 15.
1838: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (manufactured) ~ $ 19. - 21.00
Adjusting for Real Inflation since 1838 (5,473%) we can extrapolate a long term price for wholesale refined Platinum @ $856. (in 2009 USD$) The respective manufactured & pure platinum price is inflation-projected to $1,070. - 1,190. per Troy Ounce in 2009 Dollars.
It's also worth noting that manufactured Platinum prices in US catalogues were nearly 100% higher for the same (imported) items in the 1840s & 50s, but this much higher price level was stable throughout the period 1855-77.
Factoring 21% inflation, refined Platinum was actually cheaper.
Factoring 21% inflation, refined Platinum was actually cheaper.
1855: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (refined, manufactured, whols.) = $ 14.40
1872: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (refined, manufactured, whols.) = $ 14.40
No comments:
Post a Comment