December 4, 2010

France, 1829: German Source

A short-lived dramatic collapse of the Paris Platinum Price occured 1826-8; the 'earlier cost' @ ~ Fr 30. was 1826. Against export producers (within a four-year term) the tariffed rate was 3x times higher.

c.1830?: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (producer's mfg) = Fr 28.44 (USD$ 5.50)
1829: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Prag: Refined, retail) = Fr 45.31


c.1829/30: Editor's note, where to buy Platinum products and price.

Citation: Repertorium für die Pharmacie, Vol. 39 (1831) p.5


c.1831?: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (intrinsic) = Fr 24.57 (USD$ 4.68)

Citation: Precis de la Geographie Universelle; Conrad Malte Brun (1835) p.49


An 1833 German text (dated to 1830?) references the new 3- and 6-Rouble coins and previously higher Platinum prices (circa 1825.) The original text, a French ms., dated from the mid-1820s but lacked any Platinum price or coin reference. Consistent with other years, this updated price data is presumed 'common price' (Paris retail) for refined, semi-manufactured metal.

In Rußland ist es bereits als Münze eingeführt, und davon Stücke zu 3 und 5 Rubel geprägt. Der Werth diese "edlen Metalle" ist ungefähr der 5fache der "Silber," seit langer Zeit schon kostet in Paris das Gramm Platin 1 Franken und 1 Dreirubelstück wiegt 10,35 Grammen.

c.1829?: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (retail value) = Fr 31.1 (USD$ 6.)


Citation: Handbuch der angewandten Chemie: für technische Chemiker, Künstler ..., Vol. 3; Jean-Baptiste Andre Dumas, Gottlieb Alex, Friedrich Engelhart, Ludwig Andreas Buchner (1833) p.729


The Platinum market was both volatile and poorly understood. Pölitz (1830) repeats an earlier estimation (Thenard, 1822) for platina; otherwise suspect. Ore was considerably cheaper, Platinum from refiners not so much. Platinum market prices were likely inconsistent or fluctuating wildly, as large amounts of Russian contraband Platinum periodically arrived in local Western European markets.

c. 1829: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (mkt?) = Fr 22.35

Citation: Jahrbücher der Geschichte und Staatskunst [afterw.] Jahrbücher der ... Ed. Karl Heinrich L. Pölitz (1830) p.36 

Schübler recycles second-hand and very dated prices from others, apparently from the early 1820s. He mentions a Colombian coinage scheme (April, 1826) that never materialized while ignoring the massive platina discovery in the Urals and Russian Platinum Roubles (widely known to Germans by 1830.)

1822??? 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (refined) = Fr 22.35

Citation: Grundsätze der Agricultur-Chemie in näherer Beziehung auf land ..., Volume 1 By G. Schübler (1830) p. 109


1829:


1829: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (coined rate) = Fr 36.26 (USD$ 7.01)

Citation: Revue encyclopédique: liberté, égalité, association, Vol. 40 ; Marc-Antoine Jullien, Hippolyte Carnot, et al. p.413


In 1829, 56.1 kgs of platina were imported to France. Citation: Archives du Commerce, ou Guide des commerçans, recueil de tous ..., Vol. 3 p.27  

By 1828/9, best knowledge assumed pure Platinum to have a Specific Gravity of 21.45; hammered Platinum = 23.0

1828:


c.1828:

No comments:

Post a Comment