France, 1891

1889: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Wholesale) = Fr 27.99 (USD$ 5.42)
1889: 1 Troy Oz. Gold (Wholesale) = Fr 107.87 (USD$ 20.886) 

1889: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Wholesale) = Fr 34.21 (USD$ 6.62)
 
1890: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Wholesale) = Fr 74.65 (USD$ 14.44)
1890: 1 Troy Oz. Gold (Wholesale) = Fr 107.93 (USD$ 20.881) 
 
1891: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Wholesale) = Fr 45.10 (USD$ 8.721) 
1891: 1 Troy Oz. Gold (Wholesale) = Fr 108.365 (USD$ 20.952)  

Citation: Commission Permanente des Valeurs de Douane (1890)





 

1891: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum = Fr 99.53 (USD$ 19.00 - 19.26)

Citation: Actualites scientifiques (1907) Max de Nansouty p.161


1891?: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum ~ Fr 186.62 (USD$ 35.937)

Error in date (1861= 1891?) 

Percentage of Gold counterfeits in Platinum dropped substantially:

Global, 1872: Platinum Stills, Price Rumors

Apparently a translated price (from German, in a British journal) but perhaps of an original FRENCH price? German stills reportedly cost DM 600 per Kilogram in 1872.

1872: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (mfg, still) ~ £ 0.93; DM 18.66 (USD$ 5.88 - 5.98)
Citation: Chemical news and journal of industrial science, Vol. 26; William Crookes (10/11/1872) p.176


1873: Platinum fell "during the last 15 years" (from 1857.)


April, 1872:
Citation: British Journal of Dental Science, Vol. 15; April 1872, p.235


Citation: The Pharmaceutical journal ...: A weekly record of pharmacy and allied sciences

Germany, 1890

1890: 1 Troy Ounce Gold (Mkt, Ingot) = ℳ 86.63
1890: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Manufactured) = ℳ 61.28

January, 1890: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Refined) = ℳ 46.66
June, 1890: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Refined) = ℳ 59.10
September, 1890: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Refined) = ℳ 71.54
October, 1890: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Refined) = ℳ 68.43
November, 1890: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Refined) = ℳ 65.32



Manufactured, bulk Platinum prices in German Marks, 1869-92:

UK, 1840s -1860s: sulphuric acid manufacturers embrace, abandon Platinum

Continental-manufactured Platinum prices in the mid-1830s favored manufacturers.

For the concentration of oil of vitriol, English manufacturers took this advantage to replace glass retorts in 1835-40.  If the functional 14-year cycle of John Harrison's early platinum still was any indication, the necessity of replacing equipment and transition back to glass began c. 1850-55.  Chaotic, rising Platinum prices with new industrial demand encouraged a sulphuric acid producers switch back to glass around that time.

The approximate amount of refined Platinum in a (c.1835?) St. Rollox still by weight per Litre was 4.8325 Troy Ounces; the amount of Litres contained per Troy Ounce was 0.2069 Litres.

The approximate amount of refined Platinum in a (c.1840) St. Rollox still by weight per Litre was 4.0217 Troy Ounces; the amount of Litres contained per Troy Ounce was 0.2486 Litres.

In the USA, refined Platinum retailed at $8.-12. an ounce and ~ $ 6.5/oz by 1854.  The US price had risen erratically 200-400% since 1842.  

c. 1830? :  1 Troy Oz. Platinum (manufactured, retail) = £ 1.11

c. 1842? :  1 Troy Oz. Platinum (manufactured, retail) = £ 1.23

c. 1819? :  1 Troy Oz. Platinum (manufactured, retail) = £ 1.05

c.1843: Platinum substituted glass, in the production of sulphuric acid 

c. 1840? :  1 Troy Oz. Platinum (manufactured) ~ £ 0.90

c.1840

1862: 70% of English sulphuric acid produced in glass

1861: Use of Platinum Retorts in Lancashire "almost abandoned."

1869:Russian Platina Price, or Sellon's Purchase?



1870s: Platinum Retort manufacture continued, for Continental industry/capitalists

UK, 1837: French Platinum Industry Impacted Silver Prices

In E.M. Clarke's Magnetic Electrical Machine, the platinum discs cost £ 0.2750, half the price of the Decomposition of Water Apparatus.




1837: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (manufactured, whols.)  ~ £ 1.45 (USD$ 7.07)

The so-called "blowpipe spoon" listed in Griffin (1838) contained approximately 2.15 grams of Platinum.  The prevalence of these makeshift instruments elsewhere is unknown.

Citation: Chemical recreations: a compendium of experimental chemistry; John Joseph Griffin (1838) p.86

c. April? 1837: Counterfeit Sovereigns mentioned in US news, June 1837

Citation: The Financial Register of the United States, Vol. 1 (Dec. 1837) p.189


In 1837, the British Govt worried about French attempts to corner the Silver market.

The technological improvements of 1815-7 allowed French refiners to cheaply process natural silver alloys, but that refining was contingent upon the price of platinum stills.  

Citation: House of Commons papers, Volume 16, (1837) By Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, p.116





The annual Mint refiner's loss in Platinum from retorts costing £ 486.11 was £ 60.76, 2.12% of the total cost to refine 900,000 Ozt.

1837: Silver/Gold Prices in London, Paris, w/ premiums

Grievious error! The author mistakenly compares fine Gold (.9999) at Paris to standard Gold (.900) at London, and Fine Silver to Standard Silver likelwise.  At Paris, the Fine Gold (.9999) Price was Fr 3,437.77 by law of 1835.

The London Price of Fine Gold was, in contradiction, 7.27% "dearer" than Paris.

1837: 1 Troy Oz. Gold (Paris mkt, w/prem.) = Fr 107.183 = £4.03 = USD$ 
1837: 1 Troy Oz. Gold (London, Mint .900 Fine) = £3.8938 = Fr 103.4734
1837: 1 Troy Oz. Gold (London, Mint .999) = £4.3264 = Fr 114.9705

1837: 1 Troy Oz. Silver (Paris mkt.,etc)= Fr 3.88 = £0.1458= USD$
1837: 1 Troy Oz. Silver (London, Mint .925 Fine) = £ 0.2417  = Fr 6.44
1837: 1 Troy Oz. Silver (London, Mint .999) = £0.2613 = Fr 6.965  

Citation: Journal of Agriculture, Vol. 8 p.282 (1838)

France, 1878: Platinum Stills, Paris Exposition Universelle

At the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878, Johnson & Matthey Co. exhibited 'more economical' manufactured platinum stills. 

1873: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (scrap)  = Fr 25.19 (USD$ 4.84)

1878: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (mfg. still)  = Fr. 31.10 (USD$ 6.03)

Citation: La Nature: revue des sciences et de leurs applications aux arts et ..., Volume 6, By Gaston Tissandier (1878), p.247.



1873:

1878:

Adjusting for Real Inflation since 1878 (7,022%) we can extrapolate a long term wholesale price for manufactured Platinum to be $ 429. (in 2009 USD$.)

UK, 1863: Falling Domestic Demand for English Platinum Stills/Retorts

Presumably, the tariffed platina price (Russian ingot, Colombian ore) ; actual spot-prices must have been lower.

1863: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (SPb: Russian Ingot, Whols.) < £ 1.10 ($ 5.36)
1863: 1 Ozt. platina (Whols., Colombian Ore) < £ 1.10 ($ 5.36)

Citation : Ures̓ dictionary of arts, manufactures and mines, Vol. 3 (1867) p.443


First edition 1867, ms. from 1865 (?); dated price, 1862.

1863: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Ingot, Mkt.) = £ 1.20 (USD$ 5.85)

Citation: Artithmetic theoretical and practical, William Harding Girdleston (1870), p.322.

1863: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Mfg, Ret.) = £ 1.25 (USD$ 6.09)
1863: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Scrap, Bid?) = £ 0.60 (USD$ 2.93)  

Citations: Congressional Series of United States Public Documents, Vol. 6497, (1913) p.4866



An expenditure report shows the wholesale Platinum price falling, 1860-64, and the wholesale margin for refined product appears to be a scant (£ o.10 or $ 0.50, if the value of platina wastes is excluded.)

1862: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (whols., wire) = £ 1.23 ($ 5.97)
1863: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (whols., wire) = £ 1.20 ($ 5.85)

1860-1863: Military School expenditure, Wholesale Pt Price
Citation : Accounts and papers of the House of Commons, Vol. 35, 4/2-29/7/1864, p.134




A combination of increased supply (platina) cheaper production costs and global competition made stills more affordable to acid manufacturers, but most abandoned Platinum by 1873.

1836:

1873:

Citation: The Chemical news and journal of industrial science; with which ..., Vols. 7-8, Sir William Crookes (11/63), p.228.