March 16, 2012

Russia, 1826



The 1826 Coronation of Nicholas I, issued in varying weights. {Up to 15.6 g / 3.657 Zolotnik though often 6-12 grams} Sev-399A; Diakov-446.9

See Heritage Auctions World Coin (CICF) Auction Catalog #3009, Rosemont, Ill:  12.4 g. 

The Platinum coronation medal weighed 13.56 g. (3.1788 Zolotnik)
The Silver coronation medal of the same dimension weighed 4.25 g.











Citation: Narrative of a Visit to the Courts of Russia and Sweden: In the Year 1830 & 1831, Vol. 2;  Charles Colville Frankland (1832)



Mid-April 1826: News of the Second-Half 1825 Annual Gold Yield reached Germany ; no mention of any platina discovery, however.

Citation: Oesterreichischer Beobachter p.521

As reported in Paris in late July 1826, in the Winter of 1825 the St. Petersburg price had declined by 1/3rd.  The second semester 1825 yield would have arrived in April or May 1826; expedient commercial news to Paris arrived 5 weeks later, early-mid June.

"These mines are so rich, this ensures that they have reduced Platinum {price} by one-third in St. Petersburg. "

Citation: Le Globe, 7/20/1826 ; Vol. 3 p.729


July 1826: The price had fallen 1/3rd between the Winters of 1824 and 1825.



January-March 1827 Volume;

Citation: The Encyclopaedia Britannica: Or, Dictionary of Arts..., Vol. 7; Vol. 15 (1842) p.254
 





Where the 1824 daily wage was 48 Silver Kopecks (=




“A History of Platinum and its Allied Metals”, by Donald McDonald and Leslie B. Hunt

George Matthey records in a letter dated Junee 9th, 1851, of which the copy is still preserved by Johnson Matthey , that: “Mr Johnson twenty-four years ago supplied the Russian Government at the request of Chevalier Benkhausen (the Russian Consul in London) with every information respecting the method of preparing platina, the intrinsic value, uses, andadaptation to coinage as a currency or circulating medium. ”

Coincident with the high production of valuable Platinum, 1826 & 1827 were two of the more stable years of the St. Petersbourg money-market.



The Great Coronation Medal of of Nicholas I weighed ~15.6 g (~3.646 Zolotnik)


Russia, Nicholas I, 1826 Platinum Medal commemorating the coronation of Tsar Nicholas I

A slightly worn example sold at Bonhams' in NYC for US$ 12,870 (including premium); the Spot Price was $1,673. Presuming the medallion .970 Fine Pt and a retail bullion premium of 5%, the numismatic premium on 12/8/2010 was 1,317%.   

In 1862, for a similar medal, the German numismatic premium was ~2,957% the bulk price of manufactured Platinum.

March 14, 2012

Hydrogen Lamp w/ Platina Sponge

1848:

1854/5: In the US, where Platinum was $8./oz Troy, the Platinum Sponge for the Hydrogen Lamp was USD$0.38, or 21 Platinum Sponges per Troy Ounce.




1857: In the US, where Platinum was $8./oz Troy, the Platinum Sponge was USD$0.38, or 21 Platinum Sponges per Troy Ounce. 








mm

March 13, 2012

UK, 1840

1839: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (unrefined bulk ingot; Paris) ~ (USD$ 3. - 3.20)

1840: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = £ 1.50 
1841: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = £ 1.50 (USD$ 7.50)
1842: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = £ 1.50 (USD$ 7.00)

At the end of Alfred Smee's Elements of electro-metallurgy (1840) 

Citation:  Palmer's New Catalogue, with 300 Engravings of Apparatus, illustrative of Chemistry, Pneumatics, Electricity, Optics, etc., with prices ; (1840) p. p. 20










c.1839/40: Platinized Silver


Citation: Elements of electro-metallurgy, Alfred Smee (1840) pp.


c.1840:  Silver was estimated at 1/5th the Price of Platinum






In Advertisements: Watkins and Hill's voltaic or galvanic instruments (1840) "ten pair" would be
£ 8.40 (1 Element = £ 0.84), highest catalogue retail for the 0.5 x 4.0 Foil Element.
Smaller Element presumably 0.5 x 2.0 Foi.

SET OF TEN PAIRS OF GROVE'S FLAT PLATINUM AND ZINC P. cells in an ordinary sized Wollaston's porcelain trough, to liberate twenty- ...[six? cubic inches] of the mixed gases per minute, 8£ . 8s.


SET OF FIVE PAIR OF GROVE'S FLAT PLATINUM AND ZINC... liberate thirteen cubic inches of the mixed gases per minute, 4£ . 4s.


SINGLE PAIR OF GROVE'S FLAT PLATINUM AND ZINC PLATES...in Porcelain trough, 13s.


PAIR OF SQUARE PLATINUM DISCS OR PLATES, on Glass Column: decomposition of the alkalies by the influence of voltaic agency, 1£ . 10s. to 3£ . 3s.


In a comprehensive evaluation of various battery types, William Sturgeon grappled with the question of cost.  His 10-Cell Grove's Battery is estimated at £ 7.
(1 Element = £ 0.70)

Citation: The annals of electricity magnetism and chemistry and guardian of ..., Vol. 5 (1840)






April 13, 1840: 'Quantity' Battery and 'Intensity' Battery

Quantity' Battery: 320 Sq. In. of Platinum Plate ; 640 Sq. In. surface area, so 1 Element was 8 Sq. In. ("about four square feet" is only 576 Sq. In. ; more accurate is "about four and a half square feet" = 648 Sq. In.) 

'Intensity' Battery: 600 Sq. In. of Platinum Plate ; 1200 Sq. In. surface area, so 1 Element was 12 Sq. In. 
 
The Annals of Electricity, Magnetism, and Chemistry; and Guardian ..., Vol. 4

 











April, 1840:

To calculate the amount of Platinum in a Watkin's Grove's Cell, compare the rate at which water is decomposed into Hydrogen and Oxygen.  The larger Battery demonstrated by Grove (with 40 Platinum-Zinc Cells in 5 Plates total: 48 square inches Platinum in total, 24 inches of double sided-sided Platinum: 4.8 sq. in. of Platinum Sheet per Plate) produced 110 cubic inches of gases per minute, or 2.75 cu. in. gases per Cell.


For Watkin's & Hill's smaller battery of just 5 Grove Platinum-Zinc Cells advertising 13 cubic inches of gases per minute, each Cell produced 2.60 cu. in. gases per Cell, so each Watkin's & Hill's Cell would have ~4.54 sq. in. of Platinum Sheet per Plate.


Watkin's &Hill's Cell for this battery (with ~4.54 sq. in. of Platinum Sheet) cost £ 0.84; the cheaper "Single Pair" £ 0.65 was certainly smaller w/ less Platinum.

Palmer's Catalogue of 1841 offered the 'larger cell'  Grove Platinum-Zinc 6-Cell Battery at £ 0.4167 ; the 'smaller cell' was just £ 0.2917 per Cell.

The cost of batteries (and probably Platinum) was falling dramatically.

Citation: The Metropolitan Magazine, Vol. 27, No. 58



Smee notes that in 1840 the assayer's charge for pure refining Silver was  £ 0.05 over the Market-Price, an 18.4% increase for the Producer's Price. 

Commercial Silver Nitrate (unknown purity) was ~30.6% over the Market-Price for Silver.


In period wholesale/retail catalogues selling 'pure Silver foil' for £ 0.425, platinised Silver foil sold for
£ 0.475 or about 12% over the Market-Price for Fine Silver. 

 


Talbot's engine, with Grove's Battery: 4 Large Elements (198 Sq. In. Platinum Plate) where
1 Element had 49.5 Sq. In. Platinum Plate (99 Sq. In. surface)
 



April 1840: Where 3 Sovereigns = 0.77 Ozt; 23.964 g., presumed 9-carat

1839/40: 1 Ozt. Gold (Mint) = £ 4.241
1839/40: 1 Ozt. Gold 9-Carat Chain = £ 5.14
1839/40: 1 Ozt. Gold (9-Carat Chain, @.999) = £  13.70 
1839/40: 1 Ozt. Gold .999 (9-Carat Chain, 2.67 Ozt) = £  11.95 








March 6, 2012

UK, 1790-1830: Gold, Silver & Exchange Rates

Where British merchants paid in coin, a premium on contraband at Cartagena is assumed.  (Peso Exchange on Madrid is given for comparison.)


PoS Exchg Exchg
Exchg Exchg Exchg SPb £/руб SPb £/руб
Year Fine Ag $ Coin Ag $ Pesos
Roubles Roubles Roubles UK Exchg SPb Exchg
1789 £0.3100 £0.2583 £0.1459
£0.1814 £0.1302 £0.1410 £0.1345 руб 7.436
1790 £0.3100 £0.2583 £0.1448
£0.1814 £0.1302 £0.1410 £0.1367 руб 7.316
1791 £0.3037 £0.2531 £0.1492
£0.1777 £0.1135 £0.1229 £0.1173 руб 8.527
1792 £0.3250 £0.2708 £0.1543
£0.1901 £0.0969 £0.1208 £0.1097 руб 9.112
1793 £0.3150 £0.2625 £0.1425
£0.1843 £0.1031 £0.1021 £0.1018 руб 9.826
1794 £0.3050 £0.2542 £0.1267
£0.1784 £0.1156 £0.1188 £0.1181 руб 8.464
1795 £0.3100 £0.2583 £0.1227
£0.1814 £0.1281 £0.1208 £0.1235 руб 8.099
1796 £0.3175 £0.2646 £0.1205
£0.1857 £0.1302 £0.1313 £0.1318 руб 7.588
1797 £0.3000 £0.2500 £0.1042
£0.1755 £0.1240 £0.1208 £0.1214 руб 8.237
1798 £0.3000 £0.2500

£0.1755 £0.1063 £0.1042 £0.1061 руб 9.428
1799 £0.3275 £0.2729

£0.1916 £0.1115 £0.1083 £0.1090 руб 9.174
1800 £0.3450 £0.2875 £0.2250
£0.2018 £0.1188 £0.1188 £0.1197 руб 8.353
1801 £0.3526 £0.2938 £0.1636
£0.2063 £0.1229 £0.1250 £0.1230 руб 8.133
1802 £0.3300 £0.2750 £0.1560
£0.1877 £0.1266 £0.1229 £0.1258 руб 7.952
1803 £0.3300 £0.2750 £0.1514
£0.1877 £0.1422 £0.1438 £0.1418 руб 7.051
1804 £0.3200 £0.2667 £0.1452
£0.1820 £0.1323 £0.1323 £0.1334 руб 7.498
1805 £0.3400 £0.2833 £0.1374
£0.1970 £0.1313 £0.1333 £0.1298 руб 7.707
1806 £0.3238 £0.2698 £0.1492
£0.1876 £0.1219 £0.1250 £0.1250 руб 8.000
1807 £0.3275 £0.2729 £0.1624
£0.1897 £0.1058 £0.1000 £0.1135 руб 8.807
1808 £0.3226 £0.2688 £0.1740
£0.1869 £0.0970 £0.0917 £0.0875 руб 11.429
1809 £0.3250 £0.2708 £0.1798
£0.1883 £0.0838 £0.0792 £0.0833 руб 12.000
1810 £0.3425 £0.2854 £0.1834
£0.1984 £0.0639 £0.0604 £0.0583 руб 17.143
1811 £0.3600 £0.3000 £0.1916
£0.2086 £0.0639 £0.0604 £0.0583 руб 17.143
1812 £0.3962 £0.3302 £0.1799
£0.2295 £0.0806 £0.0750 £0.0750 руб 13.333
1813 £0.4200 £0.3500 £0.2146
£0.2433 £0.0651 £0.0625 £0.0667 руб 15.000
1814 £0.3275 £0.2729 £0.1926
£0.1897 £0.0521 £0.0500 £0.0542 руб 18.462
1815 £0.5626 £0.4688 £0.1683
£0.3260 £0.0456 £0.0438 £0.0452 руб 22.102
1816 £0.2900 £0.2417 £0.1445
£0.1680 £0.0434 £0.0417 £0.0415 руб 24.107
1817 £0.3200 £0.2667 £0.1474
£0.1625 £0.0499 £0.0479 £0.0465 руб 21.489
1818 £0.3250 £0.2708 £0.1688
£0.1667 £0.0521 £0.0500 £0.0497 руб 20.137
1819 £0.3226 £0.2688 £0.1564
£0.1640 £0.0477 £0.0458 £0.0455 руб 21.978
1820 £0.2975 £0.2479 £0.1448
£0.1615 £0.0434 £0.0417 £0.0410 руб 24.370
1821 £0.2912 £0.2427 £0.1500
£0.1581 £0.0412 £0.0396 £0.0396 руб 25.245
1822 £0.2881 £0.2401 £0.1527
£0.1564 £0.0434 £0.0417 £0.0408 руб 24.482
1823 £0.2862 £0.2385 £0.1557
£0.1553 £0.0456 £0.0438 £0.0400 руб 25.001
1824 £0.2887 £0.2406 £0.1518
£0.1567 £0.0412 £0.0396 £0.0396 руб 25.274
1825 £0.2944 £0.2453 £0.1524
£0.1598 £0.1108 £0.0428 £0.1063 руб 23.386
1826 £0.2893 £0.2411 £0.1464
£0.1570 £0.1189 £0.0396 £0.1141 руб 25.274
1827 £0.3156 £0.2630 £0.1428
£0.1713 £0.1089 £0.0425 £0.1045 руб 23.541
1828 £0.2891 £0.2409 £0.1498
£0.1569 £0.1042 £0.0433 £0.1000 руб 23.112
1829 £0.2869 £0.2391 £0.1520
£0.1557 £0.1042 £0.0444 £0.1000 руб 22.521
1830 £0.3250 £0.2708 £0.1499
£0.1764 £0.1040 £0.0441 £0.0998 руб 22.678


The 'Spanish Dollar,' minted in the UK at the standard 925/1000 purity:


Citation: A geographical and statistical display of the locality, relation, superficies, and population of each county, section, district, and colony of the British Empire etc. ; John Marshall (1833) pp. 46; 53



US Mint Director's data for London & Philadelphia: 1819-1822

Citation: The Register of Pennsylvania, Vol. 6 (July 1830) p.52





The Monthly magazine, Vol. 32 ; Sir Richard Phillips

August 1, 1811 issue:

Printed in September 1, 1811:

October 1811 bullion prices:


December 1, 1811: p.518