Germany, 1851

In Nördlingen Bavaria (where 1 Bayer. Pfund = 18. Ozt), Gold was 3.6x the Price of Platinum; Platinum was 4.3x the Price of Silver.  The labor & profit to refine was ~ Fl 4.
  
c.January, 1851: 1 Troy Ounce Gold (Mkt) = Fl 50. / Thlr. 33.33 (USD$ 19.99)
c.January, 1851: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Mkt) = Fl 13.89 / Thlr. 9.26 ($ 5.55)
c.January, 1851: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Mkt) = Fl 10.17 / Thlr. 6.78 ($ 4.06)
c.January, 1851: 1 Troy Oz. Silver (mkt) = Fl 3.22 / Thlr. 2.15 ($ 1.29)
 
Citation:  Allgemeine polytechnische Zeitung und Handlungs-Zeitung No. 4 (January 24 1851) p.








Luhme of Berlin exhibited Platinumware worth Thlr. 166.08 at The Great Exhibition of 1851, in London:

4 Platinum dishes and 6 similar crucibles. Moreover, even several smaller articles in related form.
Citation: Preis-Katalog Der Zur Londoner Industrie-Ausstellung Aus Dem Deutschen ...Great Exhibition (1851, London)




In Grove's Nitric Acid Batteries at Hildesheim, Platinum Foil was fully 87% of the total cost. 
The Loth at 14.616 g. and 1⅓ Loth = 19.4875 g. for Thlr. 9:

1851: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Saxony: Semi-Mfg, Retail) = Thlr. 12.77 - 14.36
.... (£ 1.81 - 2.03) 
 
1851: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (UK: Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = Thlr. 14.12 (£ 2.00)
1852: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (UK: Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = Thlr. 14.12 (£ 2.00)

In the drawing (Fig. 19) is indicated the battery is used in blasting of slate on October 26, 1851 in Hildesheim. It consisted of 9 Elements which together have 141 Square Zoll {Hanover?} of acting Platinum surface. {Where each Element has a Platinum Plate is 7.833 Square Zoll or 48.415 cm²}

No. 16 Cost for a Platinum Battery, such as the 9 Elements used in Hildesheim (19):

1) In Platinum: 1 Loth Platinum costs Thaler 6-7 and per Element on average, 
1 1/3 Loth schwer, Thaler 8.-9., for 9 Platinum Elements ..... at Thlr. 9. = Thlr. 81.


2) 9 good porous cups ..................................................... at Sgr. 4./ea. = Thlr. 1.50  
3) 9 Zinc cylinder, finished .............................................. at Sgr. 8./ea. = Thlr. 3.00
4) Combine with Hydrochloric acid .....................................................  = Thlr. 0.25 
(NB: 1 Pfund Mercury = Thlr. 1.67) 
5) 9.2 = 18 Pfund Nitric acid ............................................ at Sgr. 3./ea. = Thlr. 2.25
6) 6 Pfund Sulfuric acid ...................................................  at Sgr. 1./ea. = Thlr. 0.25
7) 8 small brass bands .....................................................  at Sgr. 1./ea. = Thlr. 0.33
8) 2 clamps w/ screws .....................................................  at Sgr. 6./ea. = Thlr. 0.50
9) Labor on Platinum Foils, assembly, etc. ...........................................  = Thlr. 3.92
 
Total Cost = Thlr. 93. (About Thlr. 100.?)
 
Citation:  Notiz-Blatt des Architecten- und Ingenieur-Vereins für das ..., Vol. 1, Architekten- und Ingenieur-Verein für das Königreich Hannover (1851-2) p.82

 
Also reported in Austria, March 1854:
Citation: Zeitschrift, Vol. 6;  Österreichischer Ingenieur- und Architekten-Verein (1854) p.126




(1854) Calculation of same 9-Element Battery in Saxony cost (Fr 41.11/ea.)




Uncertain, but given the Hanover Linie mentioned, a "surveyor's inch" is reasonably assumed here: 

9 Platinum Plates = 141 Square Zoll (Surface) = 871.47 cm² 
1 Platinum Plate =  15.67 Square Zoll (Surface) = 96.83 cm² ; Plate = 48.415 cm²



German Platinum manufacturers/industry:

Canada, c.1851: Osmium

The costs of refined PGMs were astronomically high fairky consistently throughout most of the 19th C.

In 1853, Osmiridium/Iridosmine was about 1/3rd the price of Gold. The mark-up on refined Osmium was about 24x per ounce, but only about 6.5x the intrinsic rate of 25% Osmium ore.

The US wholesale Osmium and Osmiridium prices were double the UK prices, but 30x the domestic (North American) ore price.

1853: 1 Troy Ounce Osmirdium (ore, whols.) = £ 0.90 (USD$ 4.40)

1854: 1 Troy Ounce Osmium (refined, pure, whols.) = £ 24. (USD$ 117.10)

c.1851: 1 Troy Oz. Osmiridium (Canadian ore) ~ £ (USD$ )

c.1851: 1 Troy Oz. Osmiridium (Canadian ore, intrinsic) ~ £ 8.5 (USD$ 41.55)

c.1851: 1 Troy Oz. Gold (Canadian ore) = £ 3.55 (USD$ 17.40)

1852: 1 Troy Ounce Osmium (pure, whols. @ NYC) = USD$ 240.

1853: 1 Troy Ounce Osmiridium (ore, whols.) = USD$ 8.

1853: 1 Troy Ounce Osmium (pure, whols. @ NYC) = USD$ 240.

Citation: Report of Progress; Geological Survey of Canada (1852) p.47

Colombia, 1851: Export Price

Assuming the rate of S$ 60./libra, the estimated annual export of platina (circa 1852) was 2,000 libras or 920 kgs (29,578 ozt.)  The Colombian Source Price for platina was Fr 608.6/kg and the Export Price was less than 5% higher, Fr 641 - 652. (Fr 801.5 - 815.1 Pt at purity.)   Circa 1851 at the source, Platinum was about one-fifth the price of Gold.

1850: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (USA: semi-refined? imported) = USD$ 6.10
1851:  1 Troy Oz. Platinum (mkt, mfg?, retail) = USD$ 15.00

1851: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Source: 80% ore, wholesale) = S$ 3.786

1851: 1 Troy Oz. platina (San Buenav.: ore, whols.) = S$ 3.99 - 4.05  (Fr 19.20)

1851: 1 Troy Oz. Pt (Colombian, .999) = S$ 4.99 - 5.07



1858: 1 Troy Oz. Gold (Chocó : ore, .916) = S$ 21.09 
1858: 1 Troy Oz. Au (Colombian, .999) = S$ 23.
 

Despite its apparent insignificance, this village has some commercial importance, owing to its free port status. San Buenaventura is indeed the trading-post of all gold and platinum all that is taken from lavaderos (i) of Choco, one of the most interesting provinces of New Granada. At this point, they annually export nearly S$ 800,000 {in Gold} and S$ 120,000 to 130,000 of {Platinum.} On the site where its found, platina sells for S$ 56./libra ; but on the coast you pay from S$ 59. to 60. for the same amount. We should not judge the relative scarcity of these metals by the figures I have given: platina is indeed very abundant in many parts of the Choco, but labor is too rare for one is profit to be used for this extraction; also a large part of which is exported it comes from gold washings. Both metals occurring almost constantly associated, the same operation used to isolate. Gold Choco is less than 20 carats.

Citation: Voyage dans le Nord de la Bolivie et dans les parties voisines de Pérou ou ... H. A. Weddel (1853) p.39


 

1851 - : 1 Troy Oz. Gold (ore, whols.) = S$ 11.83





1851 - : Massive discoveries in California and Australia would have depressed the global price of Colombia Gold ore.

A staggering number of European mining cncerns went bankrupt, pursuing disastrous Colombian Gold projects.

Citation: The republic of Colombia: an account of the country, its people, its ... By Francis Loraine Petre

UK, 1851: Griffin's Advertisement

1850: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Ingot? Wholsale) = £ 1.60 (USD$ 7.79)

1850: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Pure, Retail) = £ 2.55 (USD$ 12.52)

May 1851: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = £ 2. (USD$ 9.75)

Citation: Encyclopædia metropolitana; or, System of universal knowledge (1851) p.145

1851: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = £ 2. (USD$ 9.75)

Citation: A Manual of Electro-Metallurgy: including Applications of the Art, James Napier (1851) p.

c.1851/2: Griffin's Platinum Capsule and Spatula, same prices as 1866.

From Griffin's Catalogue, 1877, a 1.5 dia. capsule with handle and spout weighs 125 Grains Troy ; in 1851, the cruder manufacture of a 1.5 dia. capsule (likely, hammered Foil) was ~ 66 Grains.  These retail prices are extraordinarily high, but the advertisement was for greedy Gold-hunters and not prudent industrialists.

1851: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Mfg, Ret.) ~ £ 3.25 (USD$ 15.84) 





In 1851, a 8" Sextant  cost £ 10., -52.4% from the 1822 price; the Silver version gotten even cheaper, -57.7%.

1851: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Mfg, Ret.) ~ £ 7.20

1851: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Ingot? Whols.) ~ £ 1.60 
1851: 1 Troy Oz. Standard Gold (Ingot? Whols.) ~ £ 3.
  
Citation: The Engineer and Machinist, No 27, 8/1851


In 1851, Quennessen exhibited a Platinum still of 118.294 litres, valued ~£ 800.  If the approximate amount of Pt  by weight per Litre = 4.8225 Troy Ounces, then the amount of Litres per Troy Ounce =0.2074 Litres (1858/9 Paris-manufactured still)

Consistent with the high US price, this boiler probably weighed 18 kgs (579 ozt) therefore:
1851: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (mfg, still) = £ 1.43 (USD$ 7.00)


Platinum tipped pens were 
    

Such news, though exaggerating the prevalence of Pt, may have depressed prices somewhat:

1851: 1 Lb. Colombian Balsam (Bulk) = £ 0.1750

Germany, c.1850: Platinum Battery

Where 1 Loth = 0.4867 Troy Ounce and 1 Pfund (Cologne mark) = 16.49 Troy Ounces

1 Thaler = USD$ 0.68  a single battery contained 0.69 Troy ounces of Platinum, or 81% - 87% of the entire battery cost.

1850: 1 Troy Ounce (semi-mfg, retail?) = Thl 12.33 -14.39 (USD$ 8.42 - 9.82)

1849: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (semi-mfg: Sheet &Wire, mkt) = Fl 18.78 (USD$ 7.42)

1851: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Saxony: Semi-Mfg, Retail) = Thlr. 14.36


Citation: Oswald Marbachs' Physikalisches Lexikon, Vol. 1; Gotthard Oswald Marbach (1851) pp.

Citation:  Grundzüge der Mineralogie für Schule und Haus; Gustav Leonhard p.34

Russia, 1866: Low Price in Roubles

1866: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (mkt: sponge, whols.) = Fr 14.2143 - 17.0758 ($2.843-3.415)

1866: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (mkt) = 3.554-4.269 руб Silver ($ 2.66- 3.20)

1867: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Paris) = 5.89 руб ; Fr. 23.55= US Gold $ 4.41; USD$ 6.107

"According to reliable sources, the price per kg. of purified Russian platinum in 1865 was 501 francs and in 1866 from only 457 to 549 francs."

Spink & Son : The Numismatic Circular, Vol. 15, May 1907 p. 9885: 

"Nach zuverlässigen Quellen betrug der Kilopreis des gereinigten russischen Platins im Jahre 1865 501 Francs und 1866 gar nur 457 bis 549 Francs."

Citation: Bulletin de statistique et de législation comparée, Vol. 56 (1904) p.644

 
The 1866 Low is also cited in French Francs here.

1846: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum: 6.64 руб

1850: 1 Ozt. Platinum: 5.83 руб

1851: 1 Ozt. Platinum: 5.84 руб 

1859: 1 Ozt. Platinum: 5.58 руб

1860: 1 Ozt. Platinum: 4.28 руб

1866: 1 Ozt. Platinum: 3.56 руб    



At the Poud Rate of 1,877 руб Kr.

1866: 1 Ozt. Pt (SPb, Bulk Ore @SG 21.5) = 3.5641 руб Kr.
1866: 1 Ozt. Pt (+Assumed Refined Cost руб Kr. 1.1156) = 4.68 руб Kr.

Citation: Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, Vol. 23  Society of Chemical Industry, GB (1904) p.568

USA, 1851: California Gold Rush ; US Platinum Shortage

By 1850, Platinum was a recognized as a strategic metal: refining of both Gold and Silver, and the manufacture of certain chemicals, necessitated Platinum apparatus. 

Simultaneous to Gold discoveries in Australia, the California Gold-Rush precipitated a short-lived Platinum price hike in 1851, as (British-manufactured) equipment & supplies were suddenly scarce. We can presume the prices were much higher in remote mining areas of California and New South Wales. 

Global Spot Pt (local scrap and platina prices) did not witness inflation likewise, apparently.  

1851: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Chocó : 80% Ore, Bulk) = C$ 3.786

1851: 1 Ozt. platina (Colombian Export: Ore, Bulk) = C$ 3.99 - 4.05

1851: 1 Ozt. Pt (Colombian Export: .999) = C$ 4.99 - 5.07 

1850: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (SPb: Bulk Scrap, Mkt) ~ USD$ 4.44 (5.83 руб)

c. January, 1851: 1 Ozt. platina (So.German Mkt: Ru Ore, Bulk) = $ 4.06 (Fl 10.17)    
c.January, 1851: 1 Ozt. Platinum (So.German Mkt: Scrap, Bulk) = $ 5.55 (Fl 13.89)

1851: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Saxony: Semi-Mfg, Bulk) = USD$ 8.81 (Thlr. 12.77)
1851: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Saxony: Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = USD$ 9.91 (Thlr. 14.36)

May, 1851: 1 Ozt. Platinum (UK: Semi-Mfg, Whols./Ret.) = USD$ 9.75 (£ 2.)
May, 1851: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (UK Mfg & Ret.) ~ USD$ 15.84 (£ 3.25)  
  
April 1851: 1 Ozt. platina (Ore? US Import) ~ USD$ 5.00

Mid-1851: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Retail) ~ USD$ 11.25
Mid-1851: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Mfg, Boston Retail) ~ USD$ 15.00

Reported May 7, 1851:

Citation: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 4 (1854) p.61



Citation: Annual of Scientific Discovery: Year-book of facts in science and art for 1852; David Wells (1852) p.299


With a huge discovery in California and a sudden glut of Gold, Silver & Palladium benefited from a Gold Panic in 1850/1 on European markets.  There was a minor & short-lived spike in the Platinum metals' prices.

Russia, 1847: Production & Price

Assuming the Poud at SG 21.5 cost 3,392 руб Kr.

1846: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (StPb rate: SG 21.5) = 6.44 руб Kr
1846: 1 Ozt Pt (+Assumed Refined Cost руб Kr. 1.1156) = 7.55 руб Kr.

c.1847? Germany : by context, Russian Weight/Price, expressed in Gulden. 
Fl 200./Thlr 114.286 per Funt (=13.1661178 Ozt.) = 4,248 руб Ag/4,471 руб Kr. per Poud.


1847: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Stuttgart Price: Wire) = Fl. 15.191 / Thlr. 8.68  
= 8.066 руб Ag /  8.49 руб Kr.

1847: 1 Ozt. Platina (Ural Production, Ore at SG 21.5) = Fl. 1.519 / Thlr. 0.868
= 0.807 руб Ag / 0.8495 руб Kr.

In 1822 similar platinum sands were discovered in the Ural Mountains, and now this delivers up to 8 times more platina (at 4,000 Pfund) than America. Also, the refining is very easy. Unfortunately, these pits are a owner (Demidoff), so that the price can still be kept quite  excessively high. The production costs are coming down to Fl. 20 per Pfund, while the cost for Platinum wire is hardly Fl. 200 per Pfund; until recently, most Russian {Pt} was coined.

Citation: Technologische Hand-Encyklopädie; Christoph Bernoulli (1850), p.154



https://www.e-rara.ch/zut/content/pageview/14154010?query=platina
 
In an 1851 ms., this 1847 platina data was based on an "old price" so an over-estimation.
Where 1 Zolotnik = 96 Dolyas ; 65.8239 English Grains Troy, 92 Zolotniks = 12.62 English Troy Ounces and 1 English Troy Pound = 1.095 Russian Funts. 18 Funt = 237 English Troy Ounces, so 18 Funts, 92 Zolotnik = 249.61 ozt.

1847 Platina Yield: 0.474 Poud = 18.9583 Funt = 249.61 Ozt. = 7.764 Kgs

For 1847, an erroneous estimated 'old Price' for platina (Ore, 75%) was 289.75 руб Kr./Kg. (or 4,746 руб Kr./Poud) :  Fr. 1,159, or ~Fr 1,635 for Fine Pt.

1834 ("old price?") : 1 Troy Ounce platina (ore) = 9.01 руб (Silver Roubles?)

1847: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum = 9. руб (Effective Roubles) = Fr 36.81
....~USD$ 6.94

1851: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (intrinsic, mkt) = Fr 28.

1851: 1 Troy Oz. platina (ore) = 6.84 руб = Fr 27.58

Citation: Commentaries On the Productive Forces of Russia, Vol. 1;  Ludwik Tęgoborski (1855)

Citation: La Lumière électrique, Volume 42, p.164

1851:

1847 Gold Yield: