On Platina.: USA, 1848: California Gold-Rush

Republished from the "late issue" (presumably December?) 1848 Bank Note List.

c. 1848: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (NYC: Scrap, Bid) = $ 6.70

Citation: Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, Vol. 20, No.2; Freeman Hunt, p.230

1846: Fine Horse, $20. News of Gold Discovery, mid-February 1848. Breakfast in San Francisco $0.25

April-June, 1848: California inflation of Gold-yield instruments, 10x

Mid-August, 1848:
Gold-Dust $3./ozt at the mines; $16./ozt at Monterrey& towns Gold-Dust $12./ozt; $16./trade; Specimen Gold $10./ozt @ mines

September, 1848: Average Yield = 1ozt. Gold-Dust/day; Breakfast @ boarding, $21.50;
breakfast at mines $5.

Sept. 1848: Flour, $36/bbl; pick, pan & shovel $50. ; Horse $200. -400.
Serapes: $60.-100. ; calico $100./yard
Mid-September $100 pick-axe

October-November, 1848: Gold-Dust $0.50-1./ozt at the mines

Late 1848-Early 1849: Gold-Dust $6./trade

Mid-December 1848:

1848 Estimation:

Various:
Early 1848, $4. - 5./ozt. at the mines, $6.- 8./ozt in the towns

Late 1848, $6./ozt. at the mines, $8./ozt in the towns1849, $10./ozt at the mines, $14./ozt. in the towns; other wages, $16. - $40./day
Doctor's visit ~4 ozt.; Quinine $10./grain

Coins: premium of 15%-20%
Waiters paid $4.77-5.41/day; clerks ~$8./day

1852: $16./ozt at the mines; $18. at the Mint

1848: 1 Troy Oz. Fine Gold (Coined?) = $ 20.75

Circa 1847-8, California Gold was so plentiful and material so scarce that absurd prices (in gold) for everyday commodities appeared in mining communities of the hinterlands.

These circumstance were almost identical to travelers' reports of ridiculously high prices in Choco, Colombia. In both locales, platina was often thrown away.

Citation: The Rambler: a catholic journal and review of home and foreign literature (1849)