UK, 1853

Edward Wolstenholme Ward (E.W. Ward) was named Captain in 1852; he was sent to New South Wales, Australia in 1854.  His earlier report (as a Lieutenant) included Portsmouth retail Platinum prices (1850).

1850: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Portsmouth, UK: Sheet, Whols.)  = £ 1.60 (USD$ 7.79)

1853: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = £ 1.40 (USD$ 6.50)
1853: 1 Troy Oz. Gold (Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = £ 4.25 (USD$ 19.73) 

1853: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Paris: Semi-Mfg, Ret.) ~ £ 1.86 (Fr 46.65)

1855: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Trade) = £ 1.30 (USD$ 6.36)

Foil Battery, ea.: Pt 1.73 Grams/ 26.66 Grains Troy = £ 0.2611 (USD$ 1.21) 
Sheet Battery, ea.: Pt 9.41 Grams/ 145.2 Grains Troy = £ 0.5917 (USD$ 2.75) 

Dalgleish Pt Battery, ea.: Pt 25.815 Grams/ 398.4 Grains Troy = £ 1.462 (USD$ 6.79)  

Grove's Battery:
Where One Box was 7" long x 4" wide x 4" tall, factoring case, each cell should have been 2" x 2" wide (x4" tall?), with ~145 Grains Troy (~9.41 Grams)

1853: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = £ 1.35 (USD$ 6.27)
     Citation: Papers on Subjects Connected with the Duties of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Vol. 4 (1855)


 


1853: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Mfg., Ret.) = £ 1.75 (USD$ 8.51)

Citation: Transactions, Vol. 1, ; North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, p.453


1853:





Commercial value of platina : ~50% Gold.



1852/3: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Ore, Retail) = £ 0.823 (USD$ 4.0)

1852/3:
Citation: Rheinisches Mineralien-Comptoir: Catalogue of mineralogical, geological... A. Krantz (1853)
 

c.1855: "Rhodium" (Iridium) for Pen Points

USA, 1836: Brown's Iridium-tipped Gold Pens (NYC)

1836: 1 Ozt. Platinum (UK: Semi-Mfg, Trade)  = £ 1.20 (USD$ 5.83)  
1836: 1 Ozt. Platinum (UK: Mfg, Trade)  = £ 1.75 (USD$ 8.51)

1836: 1 Ozt. Platinum (USA: UK Mfg, Ret.)  = £ 3.60 (USD$ 17.50)
 
1834:  Hawkins' Iridosmine tipped nibs first (wholesaled?) in London = £ 1.05 (USD$ 4.34) 


1836: 1 Iridium-Tipped Gold Pen (London: Retail)  = £ 1.00 (USD$ 4.86)

1836/7: Iridosmine tipped nibs (UK-Mfg) first retailed in New York = USD$ 10.

1849: Brown's Gold Pens, w/o Iridium (wholesaled?) in New York = USD$ 2. 

1849:

Russia, 1884

Estimating the Russian Price per Funt at Fr 350.  and the author's French Franc/Rouble exchange at  2.50 руб Kr, 1 Poud = 5,600 руб



 

 
1884: 1 Troy Oz Osmiridium (Grains @ St. Petersburg) = USD$ 2. - 6.

 

c.1884: 1 Ozt Osmium (SPb: Medicinal: Ref.) = руб Kr. 124.40 (~USD$ 73.)

Citation: Practitioner, Vol. 35 (1885) p.290

1884: Pt Yield = 136.625 Poud = 5,465 Funt = 71,952.8 Ozt.= 2,238 Kgs  
1884: Au Yield = 2,009.2 Poud = 80,368.8 Funt = 1,058,145.4 Ozt. = 32,912 Kgs
















Export, by Country:

UK, 1822-1825: Wollaston's Rhodium

Kronberg, Coatsworth & Usselman (1981)* review the sales of Rhodium from Wollaston's Notebooks:

1822-5: 1 Troy Oz. Rhodium (intrinsic, producer)  = £ 15.00 (USD$ 72.-75)

*Ambix, Vol. 28, Pt 1, March 1981 pp.20-35 "The Artifact as Historical Document Part 2: The Palladium and Rhodium of W. H. Wollaston

1828: Doughty's Pens may have employed whatever Rhodium remained, after Wollaston's death.  The earliest notice appears in November 1825.




 



The c. 1825 price for Doughty Pens was £ 0.75, but declined -33% in the 1830s. 






1841: 
 

Richard & George Knight, c. 1817:

1825: Chlorplatinates were used in the treatment of syphilis.

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Global, 1823: Rhodium Price

In describing the the incidence & difficulty treating Rhodium-Gold, M. Del Rio in Mexico cryptically rebuked another unnamed European scientist & refiner of Rhodium. Apparently, some secretive monopolist had refused to assist a fellow scientist with information to efficiently cupel Rhodium from Gold: a professional discourtesy and minor scandal. 
 
Dr. Henry Hyde Wollaston seems the most likely target for this tacit accusation. He had discovered the metal (1805); in this period, there's no record of any other scientist working with so much platina residue for Rhodium production. In earlier incidents, Wollaston had been accused of secrecy and opportunism by other chemists; he also only published his platinum refining method (which had been ascertained by others) on his deathbed in 1828.

In the same letter of rebuke, Del Rio contradicts Wollaston by name; furthermore, a couple of years earlier the English chemist had mutually unsatisfactory dealings with Arago (the Paris publisher for this rebuke) over pricing another PGM product, Auropalladium. In one of his Notebooks, Wollaston mentioned the Frenchman did not pay nor thank him!

Since an English chemist (rather than Breant or any other European Gold assayist) was the purported offender, little wonder the Mexican's professional scorn came to print in a most highly regarded Paris journal. The French and the English: going at it once again.

Reviewing the Rhodium Notebook, Kronberg, Coatsworth & Usselman (1981)* calculated Wollaston had refined 129.5 Troy Ounces in 1819, the largest quantity then known. Presuming Wollaston accurately informed the French and/or Del Rio (for how else would they know the value of his Rhodium) this weight permits an approximate valuation and calculation for a Producer's Cost. Where 1,800 piastres ~ Fr 9,063. - 9,594, and 1 peso = 4s 6d:

1823: 1 Troy Ounce Rhodium (Producer's Cost) = £ 3.13
.... Peso/USD$ 13.90; Fr 70.-74.

It is also highly relevant to note that in 1822-25 Wollaston was just beginning to successfully merchandize his own Rhodium Alloy in a manufactured state, as nibs for "Rhodium Pens." Any other large scale Rhodium production would potentially have jeopardized his own revenue and enterprise. It is also reported he had not been successful selling his Palladium, although other scientists mention a persistent high price for Pd.

1822 - 1825: 1 Troy Oz. Rhodium (Retail) = £ 15.00 (USD$ 72. - 75.)

Wollaston merchandized his Rhodium at ~ 5x higher than his cost.  Rhodium tips were 4:1 Rhodium/Tin, 2 per nib (£ 0.050) @ 0.46 Grain per tip; the pens sold 'trade' for £ 0.20. 

The initial retail price was likely £ 1. in 1822, falling to £ 0.75 in 1828, then £ 0.50 by the mid-1830s.

See B. I. Kronberg; L. L. Coatsworth; M. C. Usselman: "The Artifact as Historical Document Part 2: The Palladium and Rhodium of W. H. Wollaston." Ambix, 28(1), pp. 20–35 

1825: 1 Troy Ounce Rhodium Tin Alloy (Trade: .80 Rh) = £ 12.
1825: 1 Troy Oz. Rhodium (Trade: .999 Rh) = £ 15.
1825: 1 Troy Oz. Rhodium (Trade: Mfg: .80 Rh) = £ 26.09
1825: 1 Troy Oz. Rhodium (Trade: Mfg: .999 Rh) = £ 32.69

The 1827 German report of the December 1824 Mexican notice indicates that Dr. Wollaston's alloy was only 20-25% Rh (80-75% Au) not pure.

Citation: Annalen der Physik und Chemie, Vol. 10 (1827) p.322



Rhodium-Gold (Au 57% - Au 66%) from Mexico, analyzed c. 1823:




The French published rhodium refining techniques in 1822.

France, 1849: Iridium in the 1840s

Platinum Foil Battery




1849: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum-Black = Fr  31.10 (USD$ 5.87)

1849: 1 Troy Oz. Iridium (refined, mfg) = Fr  93.30 (USD$ 17.60)

Citation: Rapport du Jury Central sur les Produits de l'Agriculture et de l'Industrie ... Jury Central sur les Produits de l'Agriculture et de l'Industrie (1849) p.837

1849: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (USA: Imported Ingot, Bulk) ~Fr. 39.75  ($ 7.50) 
1849: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (USA: Imported Ingot, Whols.) ~Fr. 44.17 ($ 8.33)

1848/9: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (USA: Semi-Mfg, Trade) = Fr. 58.30.  ($ 11.)

He displayed Gold and Platinum pens, tipped with ruby or Osmiridium, nibs which he invented and perfected in 1842.  In 1843, the price for ruby-tipped pens was, Fr 18.; today it is Fr 11.  For those tipped with Osmiridium, the price was reduced from Fr 12. to Fr 6. and however, Iridium, which worth Fr 100. per Kilogram in 1843, now costs Fr 3. per Gram, an increase due to the lower abundance of Iridium in platina ores mined today.


Where 15,000 grains = 1 Ozt.?





Dated German source!!!!

1849: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Paris: mfg) = Fr 31.1 (USD$ 5.94) 
 
Citation: Allgemeine Waren-Fabrikaten- u. Maschinen: Waren-Preis von u. für Deutschland (1850) p.64 

France, 1863: Deleuil Catalogue Prices

1856: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Semi-Mfg)  = Fr  32.66 (USD$ 6.35)
1856: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Semi-Mfg)  = Fr  40.43 - 46.66 (USD$ 7.87 - 9.08)

1863: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (SPb: Ingot, whols.) ~ Fr 27.79 (£ 1.10 = $5.40; USD 7.22 )

  
1863: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Paris Mfg, Bulk Retail) = Fr 46.66 
........... £ 1.85, $8.99; ~USD$ 13.05; Avg. Merchant Bill: $13.155 

Citation: Catalogue de instruments de physique, de chemie d'optique ... J. A. Deleuil (1863), pp.

 



Independently, the Série du Gramme (1.8855 Grams, 0.06062 Ozt) in Platinum was Fr 15., the box apparently cost Fr 2.

1863: 1 Troy Oz Platinum (Série du Gramme) = Fr 247.44 (£ 9.81)
1863: 1 Troy Oz Platinum (Gramme, Per Ozt.) = Fr. 93.31 (£ 3.70)

 







 
Manufacture of the Metre was Fr 500.





Iridium-tipped pen:




































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