April 15, 2010

1838, UK : Glasgow Chemist's Catalogue


1838: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (semi-mfg., whols.)  = £ 2.20 ($USD  11.0)

Thin Platinum foil (slips) 1" sq. cost £ 0.033 in 1838, whereas the foil price was -25% cheaper in 1877. The 1838 semi-manufactured Platinum price may be ascertained, accordingly.

1838: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (semi-mfg., whols.)  = £ 2.20 ($USD  11.0)




From 1834-1839, the retail prices of simple platinum manufactures was stable.  Consider the price of a "platinum capsule."  Contemporary Harvard University chemistry text books (printed in Boston) carried these same London prices in advertisements.

Citation: Chemical recreations: a series of amusing and instructive experiments, which ... John J. Griffin, 1834. p.13


Citation: A manual of chemistry: containing the principal facts of the science, in the ... By John White Webster (1839) p.559



A similar utensil cost "about 14s" in 1877, a 100% increase from 1839.  Presumably, the labor cost accounted for the price difference, if not simply retail/wholesale.

1838: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (intrinsic, mkt.)  ~ £ 1.0 ($USD 4.86)

1839: Russian Platinum Coin, unknown rate (per Troy ounce?)
Citation: M'Culloch's Universal gazetteer: Dictionary, geographical, statistical ... John Ramsay McCulloch, Daniel Haskel (1844) p. 782

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