Germany, 1820: Mechaniker Apel of Göttingen (Brunswick)

Göttingen (now Lower Saxony) was in the Kingdom of Hanover, whose Prince Elector was then George IV (UK.)  Hanover weights and currency vary slightly from Prussian and Convention-standards.

October, 1820: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Göttingen Retail) = Thlr 6.385
.... Frankfort a.M :~Rthlr C.M. 7.09 , Fl. 17.03 ; ℳ C. 24.20, London: £ 1.064 ; Paris: Fr. 26.18

c.1819: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (UK: pre-import; English mfg)  = £ 1.0 (Thlr 6.32)

1819: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Paris: refined) = Fr 18.29 (USD$ 3.42)  
 

"English" Platinum appears cheap in Apel's advertisement.  It's doubtful a merchant in Göttingen could procure English Platinum with such economy.  In Late 1820, Wollaston noted Cary's purchase of French Platinum @ Fr 18.10 ; he himself concluded his own Platinum refining enterprise that year for want of cheap platina.   

Where the January 1820 rate was Rthlr 6.32 per £ 1. or Fr 3.76 per Rthlr. 1.0,  

In a South German university town, it seems most likely Apel offered French Platinum wire &sheet with a ~45% mark-up over the French source, not factoring any discount. 
 
"...thick wire & sheet of the best {imported} English Platinum, sold by the Loth: 3 Thlr."

Citation: Allgemeiner anzeiger und nationalzeitung der Deutschen(1820) p.2992



Where the Hannover Kölnische Mark (16 Loth) = 233.826 g. or 7.5177 Ozt, 1 Hannover Loth = 14.614 g.  or ~0.47 Ozt. ; 1 English Troy Ounce ~ 2.1283 Hannover Loth. 


Heavier than the Convention Thaler (rated 1.1111 more valuable), the Hanover Gold Thaler was ~Fr. 4.10 (c.1820)

The Hanover Silver Thaler (Fine Ag: ~26.069 g., 0.838 Ozt) was rated 3.79x more valuable than the Hambourg Mark-Current ; likewise ℳ 1. ~Fr. 1.532.

In Brunswick money (1820) 1 Kilogram Pt cost 3.44 Kg (110.6 Ozt) Fine Ag or 0.243 Kg. (7.802 Ozt) Fine Au, a PM ratio of 1: 4.121: 14.174

The commercial Loth weighed 15.3 Grams; the Cologne Marc Loth weighed 14.6 Grams. 
In Hamburg Marks-Banco at the Apothecary Loth rate (1820) 1 Kilogram of Platinum cost ~ℳ 418.78

Frankfurt: Johann Valentin Albert

 



Notices
Platinum vessels 
In the ""Allgemeinen Handlungszeitung"" Issue 208 (or on the 22th of October) b. J. mentioned Platinum vessels as dishes, crucibles, spatula bucket as well as pliers and tweezers, wire the finest and thicker for pre-drilling the flash holes on hunting rifles sheet to show the pan-bore, Platina-plate to incandescent lamps are in addition to those to have new metals and metalloids in Johann Valentin Albert in Frankfurt a.M.
 

Also seems Apel to have been the first who established (probably on Haussmann's instigation, we have to be regarded as the father of mineralogists school in Göttingen) one of those times extremely diverse range of mineralogical Help sapparaten and utensils, and brought into the trade. In 1821 leads Apel blow-pipes, tongs and crucibles of platinum, reflection and Anlegegoniometer in various models and divisions, and also of English steel hammers, compasses, rich mineralogical cutlery, hydrometers, small hydrostatic carriage provisions to the specific weight.  Apel as estimated in these efforts was his, even far beyond the walls of Göttingen, teaches the fact that in 1825 the Mineralogical Society of Jena, whose president was none other than the great Goethe, appointed the "famous university mechanic and mineralogist Friedrich Mr. Apel" their esteemed foreign member).

Erroneously cited and repeated in German journals (1821 - 1822) reference to William Cary was dated information from 1819.   In fact Cary's address had changed by January, 1820.

The cited price in Thalers is simply forex, not accounting for the total cost of shipping nor insurance. 

The French price peaked in 1825; Platinum from Paris certainly rose higher elsewhere.  That Sterling & Thaler Platinum prices were nearly identical in 1819 suggests a French price quote from that year.

c.1819/20: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (semi-mfg, London)  ~ Thl 6.38 (USD$ 4.66)

Citation: Allgemeine deutsche Real-Enzyklopädie für die gebildeten Stände ... (1824) p.606

 

Russia, 1846

In 1827, the SPb Mint was sold 1 Kg. Platinum @ 1,172.13 руб Kr in 1827.
.... 1 Kg SPb Platinum (8/1827) = £ 48.84;  Fr 1,251.20 ; ~USD$ 241.55 - 243.44
 
Where the Russian Poud was 16.3805 Kgs @ 3,499 руб Kr, 1 Kg. Pt ('Fine') cost 213.61 руб Kr in 1846. 
 .... 1 Kilogram Mint-Refined Platinum £ 33.793;  Fr 866.21 ; ~USD$ 160.

1846: 1 Troy Ounce platina (StPb rate, 75% ore) =    руб Ag
1846: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (StPb rate: SG 21.5) = 6.644 руб Kr
1846: 1 Ozt Pt (+Assumed Refined Cost руб Kr. 1.1156) = 7.76 руб Kr.

1846: 1 Troy Oz. Alluvial Gold (22 carat?) = 30.84 руб

Where the Poud was 526.6447 English Troy Ounces,  
1846: Gold Yield: 336.587 Poud= 13,463.48 Funt= 177,261.8 Ozt= 5,513.46 Kgs


1847: platina yield: 0.474 Poud = 18.9583 Funt = 249.61 Ozt. = 7.764 Kgs




c. 1846: Ural Price for 70% ore

1846: 1 Troy Ounce platina (Ural rate, 70% ore) = 1.1393 руб Kr
1846: 1 Troy Oz Pt (Ural rate, Intrinsic) = 1.6276 руб Kr

Citation: Transactions of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, Vol. 21 (1912) p.650


1846:

1847:

 

Export:



Platinum Price Fell:

Citation: Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, Vol. 9 (May 31, 1904) p.568

1846 Gold Yield:

Russia, 1856

1856 Platina Yield: 1.434 Poud = 57.352 Funt = 755.1 Ozt. = 126.44 Kgs

c. 1856
The tax on foreign-made Platinum jewelry was R. 1.37 per English Troy Ounce, about 20%?

Industries luxe.-Prohibition, attacking mainly to luxury items, has completely missed its target in Russia. {...} Among the luxury industries of Russia, there is one that deserves to be excepted from this general judgment is silverware and jewelery, and it is worthy of remark, that branch n has never been protected by a very gentle and easy to evade by 25% compared to the value right. Now, this right is even lower: 30 rubles per pound for gold items 2 rubles for those silver and 15 rubles in platinum jewelery shall pay only 2% of the value, products and silversmithing the Russian jewelry have obtained great council medal at the Universal Exhibition of 1851. These products, in fact, made in St. Petersburg and Moscow will yield nothing to those abroad for solidity, even for taste and price.

Citation: Journal des économistes: revue mensuelle de la science économique et de la ...;  Société d'économie politique of Paris, Société économique politique (Paris, France)., Société de statistique de Paris (1861) p. 453

USA, 1844: Dana's Minerology

From the Catalogue of Mathematical and Philosophical Instruments, Manufactured and Sold by James Green, No. 43 South Street Baltimore (1844), p.10: "Scrap Zinc and other Metals, Platina Wire, Sponge,..." unquoted.  
An unplated Platinum counterfeit Half-Eagle ($5) in the American Numismatic Society Collection weighs 8.27 g ; at full weight 8.359 g. and circulated 8.346 g.

The June 1844 US duties collected on Platinum manufactures from the UK was USD$ 925.

1840: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (refined, UK retail) ~ USD$ 7.50

c. 1840-5: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (semi-refined ingot) = USD$ 7.50 - 8.33

 

c. 1845 Dental Alloy
  


c.1845: full set of teeth, in Gold ~ USD$ 200.
 

USA, c.1820

Platinum too expensive to adulterate Gold: 

USA, 1825-1828: Exchange & Premium on Coin

DSQ

As 'common knowledge,' Brande's Quarterly Journal of Arts & Science (XXXVIII: July 1825) reported large masses of Gold found in the Perm region the previous Summer (1824): attention was thus drawn to the region and the massive yield on Gold discovered there.  

On the New York market, the premium on Gold fell by half, in the Summer of 1825; other commodities prices were rising sharply.

For merchants, business news from the Urals was probably ~4 months after the fact.  In 1825, general commercial news from the Urals (specifically, the area of the Platinum tracers) was reported New York City nearly 5 months later.

An extraordinary, such as the death of Tsar Alexander at Taganrog on 1 December 1825, reached Baltimore, MD on 4 February 1826: 2 months later.  Winter diplomatic news from St. Petersburg to Washington DC also took 2 months.




Citation: Niles' weekly register, Vol. 29 ; William Ogden Niles (5 November 1825)

c.1825: The bulk price markup for Russian iron, w/ tariff and if equal to 'best quality US' iron, was 62%. 



1823-25: US iron prices @ NYC rose 25%.



Citation: Congressional Edit. 2nd Sess, 22nd Congress, Vol 2 (1830) p. 57





1831 New Jersey Bar Iron = $80./ton ; NYC $85./ton
1830 New Jersey Bar Iron = $80./ton ; NYC $85./ton
1829 New Jersey Bar Iron = $80./ton ; NYC $85./ton
1828 New Jersey Bar Iron = $80./ton ; NYC $85./ton
1827 New Jersey Bar Iron = $75./ton  ($3.75 sh to NYC) NYC $80./ton
1826 New Jersey Bar Iron = $80./ton ; NYC $85./ton
1825 New Jersey Bar Iron = $75./ton ; Pennsylvania $85./ton ... NYC PA $110./ton
1824 New Jersey Bar Iron = $  /ton; Pennsylvania $75./ton ... NYC PA $  ./ton 

1823 New Jersey Bar Iron = $  /ton; Pennsylvania $75./ton ... NYC PA $  ./ton 
1822 New Jersey Bar Iron = $  /ton
1821 New Jersey Bar Iron = $  /ton
1820 New Jersey Bar Iron = $  /ton 
1819 New Jersey Bar Iron = $  /ton 1818 New Jersey Bar Iron = $  /ton 
1817 New Jersey Bar Iron = $  60./ton 1816 New Jersey Bar Iron = $  65./ton 

   






1831 Bar Iron @ Cincinnati = $ 100.-110./ton   
1830 Bar Iron @ Cincinnati = $ 100.-110./ton 

1829 Bar Iron @ Cincinnati = $ 112.50-122.50/ton
1828 Bar Iron @ Cincinnati = $ 115.-125./ton   
1827 Bar Iron @ Cincinnati = $ 120.-130./ton 
1826 Bar Iron @ Cincinnati = $ 125.-135./ton 
1814-18 Bar Iron @ Cincinnati = $ 220.-225./ton  

Gold premium, 1828:



Exchange Rate:

France, 1809

Jeannetty mentions the various clients and industries using his Platinum (similar to Wollaston's, but with dentists before chemists) and names several agents in Lyon.  

The Paris manufacturer's Lyon offer would necessarily include all transportation costs and depot markup, at a price significantly higher than Platinum in Paris. The price differential between Jeannety's Scrap Bid in Lyon (Fr. 15) and to chemists (Gehlen: Fr. 13) may reveal the minimum regional markup, typically known as "franc de port," or Fr. 2/Once, ~ 15.4% over the Paris retail price; the Lyon agent's trade discount would be additional, for a total markup conservatively estimated to be ~20%. 


1809: 1 Troy Ozt. Platinum (Paris: Scrap, Bid) = Fr 13.22 ($ 2.48)
1809: 1 Troy Ozt. Platinum (Paris: Semi-Mfg, Whols.) ~ Fr 22.36 ($ 4.19)
1809: 1 Troy Ozt. Platinum (Paris: Mfg, Whols.) ~ Fr 30.50 ($ 5.72)
 
1809: 1 Troy Ozt. Platinum (Paris: Scrap, Bid) = Fr 13.22 ($ 2.48)
1809: 1 Troy Ozt. Platinum (Paris: Semi-Mfg, Trade) = Fr 25.41 ($ 4.77)
1809: 1 Troy Ozt. Platinum (Paris: Mfg, Retail) = Fr 34.56 ($ 6.48)
 
1809: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Lyon: Scrap, Bid) = Fr 15.25 ($ 2.86)
1809: 1 Troy Ozt. Platinum (Lyon: Semi-Mfg, Trade) = Fr 27.45 ($ 5.15)
1809: 1 Troy Ozt. Platinum (Lyon: Mfg, Retail) = Fr 36.60 ($ 6.86)
 

... made this precious metal suitable for use in firearms, whether for breech-bush or for reinforcing pan-screws, and preferably replaces gold for these different uses; it is more substantial and less vulnerable to all reagents.  Messrs. Boutet, of the arms factory at Versailles, Lepage, Arlaut and all the musketeers in Paris are well served {by Platinum}, as well as dentists and chemists.  The price is Fr. 27  per Once, and Fr. 36 for chemists, entirely ready, and I take back scraps, filings and pieces deriving therefrom, free of all foreign matter, for Fr. 15 per Once.  Refer me to the width of breech-bush and size of the pan-screws that you desire; I will deliver them with the greatest accuracy the depot that is at M. Laurent-Micallef, Goldsmith, Place de l'Herberie No.111, in Lyon. I have a depot for musketeers at Messrs. Buisson, Goldsmiths, Rue Froide, Saint-Etienne.

Janety, Member of the Société des inventions et découvertes, Rue du Colombier in Paris.

Citation: Bulletin de Lyon Ballanche père et fils ( No. 55 : 7/12/1809) p.217

Retail jeweler (marchand orfèvre) Jean-Baptiste Laurent-Micalef (1798-c.1814) at Place de l'Herberie, n. 111, Lyon.



(Petrus?) Buisson, Rue Froide, St-Etienne (major gun manufactory.) 


1809: Franc de port = Fr. 2.


Jean Le Page (1746-1834) luxury arms manufacturer; Arlaut: gun manufacturers.






Where 1 Livre, poid du Marc = 1.31268 English Troy Pounds @ Fr 130., 1 English Troy Pound of platina would cost Fr 99.03 or  

1809: 1 Troy Oz. platina (bulk?) = Fr 8.253 (S$ 1.6506)
1809: 1 Troy Oz. platina (intrinsic, 75% ore) = Fr 11. (S$ 2.20)
1809: 1 Troy Oz. Pt (labor) = Fr 4.24 (S$ 0.8472)

1809: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (scrap, Buyer's Price) = Fr 15.24 (USD$ 2.88)

1809: 1 Troy Oz. platina (retail) = Fr 27.43 (USD$ 5.18)

1809: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (pure, producer) = Fr 36.57 (USD$ 6.90)
1809: 1 Troy Oz. Pt (Producer's Recycling Cost) = Fr 19.48 (USD$ 3.68)
1809: 1 Troy Oz. Pt (Producer's Profit, Sponge) = Fr 17.09 (USD$ 3.22)

1809: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Producer's Sheet) = Fr 39.17 (USD$ 7.39)
1809: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Producer's Mfg) = Fr 48.61 (USD$ 9.17)
   
Curious phrasing of von Humboldt suggests a recent Paris price change.  The 'common price' would be wholesale, but he doesn't indicate a "current price."

Gehlen (1809?) complained of Janetty's manufactured price, and Paris scrap price (in trade) was nearly as high as retail ore.  The apparent price of ore was nearly twice as expensive, perhaps because of the English trade embargo and disrupted Atlantic trade.

All this suggests price volatility and/or platina supply issues on the Paris market (which explains a persistently high retail price.)  

See more on Commodity Prices of 1809.

c.1808/9:

c.1808?
Citation: Political essay on the kingdom of New Spain; Alexander von Humboldt (1811) p.383

February 28, 1810: reference to Winter 1809/10: the price of Platinum was falling, but remained ~1: 3 or 1:4 yet. 

Platinum Vase, 18 Ozt: 18.9 cm diam, 13.5 cm deep. (7.44 in. by 5.315 in.)
Platinum Retort, 27.65 Ozt: 1 Litre
 
Citation: Bulletin, Vol. 5; Société d'encouragement pour l'industrie nationale, p. 56


Reported 10 February 1810, for the Year 1809:

Citation: Archives des découvertes et des inventions nouvelles, Vol. 3 (1810)



 


Platina which comes to be found in Spain and Santo Domingo becoming less rare every day in trade must necessarily diminish value, and can, after this, thinking forward some years, its price will be that of Gold in the ratio of lower than 1-to-4.



Curious reference in 1835 German textbook: Platinum was first worked systematically in France in 1808.

Citation: Geologie: oder Naturgeschichte der Erde, Vol. 1 Karl Cäsar von Leonhard (1836)

c. 1809: If ~70% of Wollaston's refining business was for 'touch-hole quality' Platinum, Continental production for gun-manufacturers was probably equally important at this time.  The retail mark-up may also reveal the retail price of Platinum.

UK, 1828: Uncertain Price

Estimation of valuation of the Russian platinum coin in mid-1828, 20% lower than market prices in 1826/7. Did the global price of Platinum recover ? A shortage of refined Platinum in London was rumored with a (momentary) high prevailing price in June, 1828.

In a December 1827 letter to Alexander Humboldt, Count Cancrin discussed possible values for the anticipated Rouble coinage in Platinum (confirmed September 1828.) As Finance-Minister, Cancrin should have been well aware of the trade value of platina in London and elsewhere: he cited the London Price Ratio of Platinum to Silver as 1:5 (presumably, 1826/7 prices.)

Cancrin cites (circa October 1827) a London bar-price is ~58% lower than the June 1828 bar-price in Galini's Messenger.

There's no evidence of a price surge and/or Platinum shortage in Paris in 1828. The Colombian authorities were selling platina or crude ingot by mid-1827. An enormous platina stockpile released by the Spanish govt to Breant was processed and for sale at ~Fr 27.50 per English Troy Ounce in Paris.

c. Summer, 1828: 1 Troy Oz. Coin Intrinsic (est.) = £ 1.10 (USD$ 7.66)

c. Summer, 1828: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (London mkt) = £ 1.55 (USD$ 7.66)

c. Summer, 1828: 1 Troy Oz. platina (est.) = £ 0.42 (USD$ 2.07)

June, 1828

Citation: Bulletin universel des sciences et de l'industrie: Bulletin des sciences ...(1829) p.339

c. Summer, 1828: 1 Troy Oz. platina (est.) = £ 0.42 (USD$ 2.07)

c. Summer, 1828: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (intrinsic) = £ 0.4946 (USD$ 2.44)

c. Summer, 1828: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (refined, est.) ~ £ 0.75 (USD$ 4.75)

c. June 15, 1828: News of the Russian Platinum coinage reaches England.



"Michael Faraday’s Use of Platinum in His Researches on Optical Glass" Melvyn C. Usselman

There is no evidence that Wollaston continued to supply platinum to the Glass Committee after the one ingot was consumed, and for further work platinum was probably purchased from P. N. Johnson.  In his paper onthe subject Faraday mentions “the great expense of the material: the value of the plate in question [weighing 3.6 02.1 is about L6 10 s”.( I 9). This corresponds to a price of about 36 s.per oz., twice Cary’s usual selling price forWollaston’s platinum.

Fall or December, 1828:

Citation: The Athenaeum and literary chronicle, Vol. 1, Issue 64 (Jan. 14, 1829) p.30

c. November 1828?

1828: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Russian Coin value) = £ 1.10 (USD$ 5.43)

c.1828? London Market Price, intrisic, 5.25x Silver = £ 1.39 (USD$ 6.86)

Calculating different Sterling values for mined Uralian platina & gold, the 1827 producer value for ore was estimated.

1828: 1 Troy Ounce platina (estimation of ore value) = £ 0.42
1828: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Russian coin value) = £ 1.43 (USD$ 7.05)

1828: 1 Troy Oz. platina (ore @ St. Petersburg) = 21.87 руб = (USD$ 4.37)

1828: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (semi-refined @ St. Pete) = 29.16 руб = (USD$ 5.83)

1828: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (refined; ingot @ St. Pete) = 36.46 руб = (USD$ 7.29)

1828-40:

Where £1.00 = 23 Paper руб. and "3 рубли на серебро" = £0.475 and 11.16 Paper руб.,

1828: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Russian coined value) = 33.58 руб Paper
1829: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Russian coined value) ~ £1.45 (USD$ 7.05)
1829: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (semi-refined @ St. Pete) = 29.16 руб = (USD$ 5.83)

In the USA during 1828, there was a 10% premium on British money.

Citation: The Literary gazette: A weekly journal of literature, science ...,Vol. 13 edited by William Jerdan et al. p.74

1828:

Late 1828 gossip:


1829:

In 1828, a single French Still weighed ~273 Ozt ("8.5 Kgs") had a capacity of 42 Liters.



From an 1829 ms. with recent information, c. 1826-8. The daily production was 20 carboys (= 757 Liters) @ 68 Kg. each = 1,361 Kg. = 1.36 metric tonnes, or {1.34 Tons?} 'Sulphuric Acid of commerce.'
 
Citation: Chemical Essays: Principally Relating to the Arts and Manufactures...; Samuel Parkes, J. W. Hodgetts (1830)

Ibid. p.232





Presumably, 1 carboy = 37.85 - 37.89 Liters


Presumably, 1 carboy = 37.85 - 37.89 Liters
c.1860


 c.1833: presumably, in error.
 
10 Scotch Gallons Whiskey = 35.811 English Gallons ; elsewhere, 36.0877 English Gallons
Where 1 English Gallon = 3.785 Liters; 10 Scotch Gallons = 135.6 - 136.6 Liters








c. November, 1828

Citation: The Jewelers' circular, Vol. 77, # 2 (1917) p55