1828: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (coined rate) = £1.10 (USD$ 5.43)
News of late 1827:
Citation: Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 33 (February 2, 1828)
It was a matter of more than passing academic interest what Platinum was worth, but US platina or platinum prices were not recorded or publicly reported until the last quarter of the 19th Century. Establishing the relative intrinsic value of Platinum by ratio with Silver and Gold was one common reference, even where the market price of the commodity (unrefined platina and semi-manufactured Platinum) was in flux and subject to local scarcity.
On the Eastern seaboard, generic news from London to New York/Boston took ~35-40 days, and Russian summer news was at least 12 days older (~50 days prior) during shipping months of 1828. In rural Miami Ohio, printed news from New York traveled ~14 days; from Colombia ~45 days, from London ~50 days; from Vienna, Austria 70 days; from St. Petersburg ~65-80 days before or after the port froze seasonally.
Another 'common misunderstanding' was simply repeating an old price reported elsewhere, earlier. On May 17, 1826, the Colombian Government declared a Mint price of $6./per onza, an arbitrary price largely estimated by platina sales to exporting merchants. The rural Ohio newspaper appears to be repeating that particular valuation (1826) matter-of-factly, as late as August 1828. In reality, imported platina prices were declining from a presumed Price-of-Gold High in the USA circa March, 1826.
In rural Ohio, Russian "commercial news" was at least 2.5 months old. The poor state of information is also evidenced by the dated and incorrect Rouble price (August, 1827: Journal d'Odessa) August 1827 news reported in the Summer 1828.
October, 1828: The August 1827 Paper Rouble price at the Silver Rouble exchange rate. Although it's tempting to imagine a US price of $15.53 per Troy Ounce of platina or $ 26.44/oz. for refined Platinum, there were significant duties to be added to Pt imported into the USA.
Erroneous calculation, actual 1828 US/New York market price unstated.
Citation: Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol. 2 (Philadelphia, Pa.) Oct. 1828 p. 249
Citation: Cuerpo de leyes de la republica de Colombia: que comprende todas las leyes (1840) p.541
Correctly, "the value of platina" might be estimated at intrinsic rates and/or quality of the ore. A US market rate for imported Platinum was certainly much higher, too. By coincidence, the August market-price for imported Platinum in New York and Philadelphia was probably ~USD$6. ; three months earlier the price was higher, ~$7. The January 1828 price should have been ~ $8., etc.
After the 15% tariff was removed in 1832, "Six Dollars" per Troy Ounce was a merchant's cited price for imported bulk manufactured Platinum in 1833, five years later.
If these are correct market prices for the ore, platina had risen 593% from 1816 - 1828, though the platina price was already declining after 1830.
1828: 1 Troy Ounce Silver = USD$ 1.1538 (4x Ag) ~ $4.60
1828: 1 Troy Ounce Gold = USD$ 19.39 (1/4 Au) ~ $4.85
1828: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (coined) = £ 1.10 (USD$ 5.42)
1828: 1 Troy Oz. platina (market) = USD$ 6.
News of late 1827:
Citation: Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 33 (February 2, 1828)
Citation: The Literary Register; a weekly paper edited by the professors of ..., Vol. 1, Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) 1828 p.174
It was a matter of more than passing academic interest what Platinum was worth, but US platina or platinum prices were not recorded or publicly reported until the last quarter of the 19th Century. Establishing the relative intrinsic value of Platinum by ratio with Silver and Gold was one common reference, even where the market price of the commodity (unrefined platina and semi-manufactured Platinum) was in flux and subject to local scarcity.
On the Eastern seaboard, generic news from London to New York/Boston took ~35-40 days, and Russian summer news was at least 12 days older (~50 days prior) during shipping months of 1828. In rural Miami Ohio, printed news from New York traveled ~14 days; from Colombia ~45 days, from London ~50 days; from Vienna, Austria 70 days; from St. Petersburg ~65-80 days before or after the port froze seasonally.
Another 'common misunderstanding' was simply repeating an old price reported elsewhere, earlier. On May 17, 1826, the Colombian Government declared a Mint price of $6./per onza, an arbitrary price largely estimated by platina sales to exporting merchants. The rural Ohio newspaper appears to be repeating that particular valuation (1826) matter-of-factly, as late as August 1828. In reality, imported platina prices were declining from a presumed Price-of-Gold High in the USA circa March, 1826.
In rural Ohio, Russian "commercial news" was at least 2.5 months old. The poor state of information is also evidenced by the dated and incorrect Rouble price (August, 1827: Journal d'Odessa) August 1827 news reported in the Summer 1828.
Erroneous calculation, actual 1828 US/New York market price unstated.
Citation: Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol. 2 (Philadelphia, Pa.) Oct. 1828 p. 249
Correctly, "the value of platina" might be estimated at intrinsic rates and/or quality of the ore. A US market rate for imported Platinum was certainly much higher, too. By coincidence, the August market-price for imported Platinum in New York and Philadelphia was probably ~USD$6. ; three months earlier the price was higher, ~$7. The January 1828 price should have been ~ $8., etc.
After the 15% tariff was removed in 1832, "Six Dollars" per Troy Ounce was a merchant's cited price for imported bulk manufactured Platinum in 1833, five years later.
If these are correct market prices for the ore, platina had risen 593% from 1816 - 1828, though the platina price was already declining after 1830.
1828: 1 Troy Ounce Silver = USD$ 1.1538 (4x Ag) ~ $4.60
1828: 1 Troy Ounce Gold = USD$ 19.39 (1/4 Au) ~ $4.85
1828: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (coined) = £ 1.10 (USD$ 5.42)
1828: 1 Troy Oz. platina ~ $4.75
1828: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (intrinsic) ~ USD$ 6.
1828: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (intrinsic) = USD$ 7.15
Citation: Gaceta de Colombia, Vol. 4, Issues 359-493
Citation: Gaceta de Colombia, Vol. 4, Issues 359-493
1831: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (hypothetical, coined rate) ~ USD$ 4.55
1832/3: : 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (imported Paris manufacture) = USD$ 6.
1816: 1 Troy Ounce platina (ore @ Philadelphia) = USD$ 0.6857
In 1829, actual news from English markets took at least 4 weeks to reach the USA, but "recent" topical matters might be dated several years earlier.
February 2, 1828: Recycled news, but suggesting a diminished platina price in New York
The specimen had been found in 1824, nearly four years earlier:
Citation: Geo. F. Kuntz in Economic World, Vol. 15 (1/12/1918)
1920: Estimation for Period?
1828:
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