Austria, 1822

In Vienna 1822, Platinum retailed for Fl. 860./kg (~Fr. 2,239/kg.) Platinumware was ~10x (9.82 -10.23x) the Price of Silverware, retail. Likewise, retail Platinum was 53% (about half) the Retail Price of Goldwares, where Gold jewelry retailed for ~2.3 - 2.5x the Price of Platinum chains.
 
Assuming the Wien Loth in Silver at 17.575 g. and where Florin C.M. (11.6861 g. Fine Ag) so Fl. C.M. 1. = Fr. 2.6034 (2 Mo. Bill: Fr. 2.5157); $0.4858

1822: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Vienna: Mfg, Retail) = Fl C.M. 26.745 (Fr. 69.63)

Late 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Silver (.812 Fine) = Fl C.M. 2.2122
Late 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Silver (.937 Fine) = Fl C.M. 2.3597
Late 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Silver (.999 Fine) = Fl C.M. 2.7244
Late 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Silver (Bid: .999 Fine) = Fl C.M. 2.6154

Late 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Silverware (.812, Intrinsic) = Fl C.M. 2.6546
    
Late 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Silver (Vienna: Intrinsic, Coin) = Fl C.M. 2.6616

In Vienna, platinum is made in objects which, if readily available, are cheaper than gold. Thus, for example,  watch-chains, pocket-chains, etc. cost per Ducatengewicht {3.489 g} Fl C.M. 3. The Loth of Silverware 13löthigem in silver content is worth Fl. C.M. 1.25 but scrap paid at Fl. 1.20, because you are billed for the loss in remelting; 15löthiges silver is paid about Fl. .0667 - .0833 C.M. dearer. The best value manufacture is the larger silver spoon, by which cost, together with hallmark and work, Fl. 1.50 per Loth ; the coffee spoon comes abit higher - namely at  Fl. 1.60 per Loth; larger items, such as Lavoirs, pots, plates, etc. cost Fl. 1.75 to  Fl. 1.80; items with openwork, with visible hinges etc., Fl 2. per Loth.

Citation: Darstellung des fabriks- und gewerbswesens in seinem gegenwärtigen zustande... Ed. Stephan von Keess (1823) p.453


 
Taking the Ducaten at 3.489 g. and Austrian Gold Alloys at


No.1 = 0.3264 Fine Au
No.2 = 0.5451 Fine Au
No.3 = 0.7674 Fine Au

1822: 1 Troy Oz. Gold (Vienna: Coin) = Fl C.M. 40.105
1822: 1 Troy Oz. Gold (Vienna: Coin Intrinsic) = Fl C.M. 40.63

Late 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Goldware (.3264 Fine) = Fl C.M. 13.37
Late 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Goldware (.5451 Fine) = Fl C.M. 22.28
Late 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Goldware (.7674 Fine) = Fl C.M. 31.30
Late 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Goldware (at .999 Fine) = Fl C.M. 40.66 - 40.97

1822: 1 Troy Oz. Goldware (Vienna: Retail) ~ Fl C.M. 51. - 68.

The prices are extremely different according to fineness, weight and work. In general, they are much lower in recent times, very beautiful wares but now come to stand noticeably high. Without fashioning, which in some wares is .25, .50, .66 more than the raw material, the Ducat-Weight No. 1 comes on Fl. 1.50, No. 2  to Fl. 2.50, No. 3 on Fl. 3.50; in Ducatengold, {Ducat-Weight} stands at Fl. 4.50. C.M.



Standard Austrian Gold alloys, c. 1830:

Russia, 1822

1822: 1 Troy Ounce platina (SPb: Ore 80%) = 4.375 руб Acc.

  The first buyer was the government. From the years 1825-1843 the delivery of the whole platinum gained to the Crown was required. The price paid was initially (1822?) 60 Kopecks per Zolotnik, or {140.66 руб Acc.} per kilogram, with 10 to 12% deducted by the assayer {123.78 руб Acc., net}.  Three years (1825?) later, it rose to {230.31 руб Acc.} per kilogram and finally the coining period (1828-1843) to {290.25 руб Acc.}

Citation: Prometheus: Illustrierte Wochenschrift über die Fortschritte..., Vol. 18, No. 904, p.309 

1822: 1 Troy Ounce platina (Error @ "Rouble rate") = £ 0.9042

1822: 1 Troy Oz platina (ore, @ Silver Rouble rate) = £ 0.2260

Citation: The Mineral Industry, Vol. 17 (1908) p.718

1819-22: Platina was separated from Gold at Neiwin ; collected at Jekaterinburg.

1826: Confirmation of the Ural discovery ('rumor') was widely reported in Continental journals of the scientific community; here, a footnote to a Boussingault's 18 April 1826 'Colombian Letter to Humboldt'

Citation: Annales de chimie et de physique; Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, p.206

Austria/Germany, 1822/3

In an unstable currency, a timely commodity or producer's price quote is by definition dated; one curious high (and useless) price appears in a Austrian source from the Summer, 1824. This appears to have been a known purchase for the Nusdorf sulphuric acid refinery (perhaps a reference to the Platinum still in 1819.)

The irrelevance of the author's price might be further underscored by the fact that:
a) wildly fluctuating bank money probably wasn't accepted by Paris vendors, and
b) the quote does not include all costs to acquire and install the product.

But where the Wiener Pfund Handelsgewicht of 560 grammes is assumed, Jeannetty's 1822 Paris Platinum boiler w/ accessories should have weighed ~22.4 kg (720 Troy Ounces.) 'Factory price' likewise implies no shipping, insurance, etc. was included in the pre-import manufacturer's (unstated) hard currency price.

c.1822? 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (producer mfg @ Paris) = Banco Fl 25.
c.1822 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (producer mfg @ Paris) = Fl C.M. 7.55 (Fr. 19.01)

Das Ganze wiegt 40 Pfund ist von Jeannetty in Paris verfertigt, und kostet der Fabrik, ohne Mißbrauch der Nullen, 18000 Gulden Wien.


The whole thing weighs 40 (Wiener?) Pfund is manufactured by Jeannetty in Paris, and costs at the factory, without abuse of the zeros, 18,000 Wien Florins.

Citation: Tagebuch einer metallurgisch-technologischen reise, durch Mähren, Böhmen ...; Christian Fürchtegott Hollunder (1824) p.42


1822: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (mfg) = UNKNOWN

"When the copper market contains 1 ounce Platina, it's the current price of pure platinum: the price of the finished commodity in bulk shall be Rrt 9. be on the mark, in smaller, one mark, and including most objects, but more in {complex manufactures?}"

Citation: Allgemeiner Anzeiger für Bayern: mit bes. Beziehung auf Künste ..., Vol. 8 (Dec. 1822) p. 369

1817: Janetty's 1816 Platinum Still; 15kg = 30 Pfunde > 20kg = 40 Pfunde

Citation: Allgemeine Handlungs-Zeitung: mit den neuesten Erfindungen..., Vol. 24 (1817) p.183

June, 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Col./Bav. est.) = S$ 4.3276; Fl 8.04

Coins of Platinum. According to the Jamaica newspaper from April 28th, the Congress of the Republic of Colombia has decided that the trade with platinum as a precious metal, which presents great advantages for propagation of the public treasure, belongs exclusively to the State, and that a coin of platinum is to be stamped. This is to be national coin. One Onza (0.9243 Ozt) of pure Platinum is worth S$ 4. in piastres, or approximately Rhein. Fl. 7.433.

Unknown reference or calculation/estimation :

1822: 1 Troy Ounce platina (?) = M 17.42

Germany, 1822-1827: von Humboldt's Correspondence with Count Cancrin

October, 1820: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Bruns.,Germ. retail) = Thlr 6.39 
1821/2: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Frankfurt: Mfg, Ret.) = Preuss. Rthlr. C. 10.34 (Fl. 14.8967) 
Early 1822:1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Paris: Mkt, Intrinsic) = Preuss. Rthlr. C. 5.91 (Fr 21.35)
Mid-1822?:  1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Paris: Mkt, Intrinsic) = Preuss. Rthlr. C. 6.20 (Fr 22.37)


 

 

 






After about 20 years residence in Paris, Alexander von Humboldt returned to Berlin in 1826. In November 1827, he corresponds with Count Cancrin (in St. Petersbourg) on Platinum's valuation a precious metal and reports a price-record for Platinum 1822-7.  Although von Humboldt asserts these are Paris Prices, it is circumstantially obvious he's reporting German (likely, Berlin) retail prices, for several reasons:

1) Paris sources should report Once p.d.m. (not Berlin Silbergewicht Loth) and also in Francs (not Preussiche Riechsthalern Current.)

2) Exceedingly high retail "Paris" prices, contradicted by numerous other official, local and non-local Paris price-reports for the period.  

3) Reference to the French Royal Mint refiner and leading platinum producer, M. Bréant, is a possible source for the Berlin merchant ("10% discount") and Humboldt's price-confusion. Also, he appears ignorant of the Platinum industry and its consumer base (~80% gun-manufacturers, jewelers and dentists) which confirms the Berlin merchant dealt retail to chemists only (not more than ~15% of the total market.)

Yet it must be noted that at these prices, the manufacture mainly in round vessels, brings relatively little value.  In the cleaning of platina, Mr. Bréant appears to be the most successful among any other chemists, and he has supplied the public with refined metal usually 8-10 per cent cheaper than the above information.

Citation: Im Ural und Altai: Briefwechsel zwischen Alexander von Humboldt und Graf ...; A. von Humboldt, Egor F. Kankrin



4) Count Cancrin reports the 'average Paris Price' platina and Platinum for unknown period, prior to July 1827 (likely: 1824-26), far lower than von Humboldt's data.

I brought together various news about the value of the platina from France and England, from which we have here want to conclude that on average an Once raw platina costs about Fr. 8 or more, as opposed to a completely purified Ounce for Fr. 32. 

Citation: Im Ural und Altai: Briefwechsel zwischen Alexander von Humboldt und Graf ...; A. von Humboldt, Egor F. Kankrin p.3


5) Most importantly, factoring a 10% discount on Paris common prices and presumed Berlin merchant profit, von Humboldt's retail price-record is consistent with known Paris prices. 

At Frankfurt Retail prices, the Prussian Silbergewicht Loth sold for Preuss. Rthlr. C. 4.86 in 1821/2. At the Paris 'common price' of Fr. 21./Once, the same Berlin Loth cost Preuss. Rthlr. C. 2.50 in early 1822. The Berlin Merchant's Profit was ~20%.



This price-table summarizes the course of the first recorded Platinum Bubble in its full magnitude. By dates and approriate forex, Bréant's data gives fuller context than retail ore prices noted elsewhere by a famous French dentist F. Maury. (Refined Platinum rose twice as high in December 1825, for example; whereas Maury/Tillett only sketched the average annual retail ore price.)


My apologies if I have left you waiting so long, for in determining to respond on this important subject to express to a statesman, the delay was solely to gain time to gather a few notes on the platina traffic from friends in France, England and South America. It is found (and these points will appear very important, Your Excellency, in terms of political economy...)

Unfortunately, prices for manufactured Platinum (in crucibles, exhaust-vials, retorts and sheets of various lengths) are still very unstable, costing in Paris:

{Where 1 Loth = 225.76 grains = 0.4703 Ozt. and the Paris Once = 0.983688 Ozt., with a contemporary Gold Coin forex Thlr 1 = Fr 4.08, we may ascertain the Manufactured Platinum Paris Once-rate originally reported by Bréant to von Humboldt:}

1822: 1 Paris Once Platinum (Mfg, Retail) --------------------------------- (Fr 26.50)

1823: 1 Paris Once Platinum (Mfg, Retail) --------------------------(Fr 34.50 -42.50)

Jan.-Mar. 1824: 1 Paris Once Platinum (Mfg, Retail) -----------------------(Fr 38.25)

July & Aug. 1824: 1 Paris Once Platinum (Mfg, Retail) ----------------------(Fr 47.00)

December, 1824: 1 Paris Once Platinum (Mfg, Retail) -----------------------(Fr 61.75)

Feb.-Mar. 1825: 1 Paris Once Platinum (Mfg, Retail) ---------------(Fr 61.75 - 64.75)

July, 1825: 1 Paris Once Platinum (Mfg, Retail) -----------------------------(Fr 53.00)

December, 1825: 1 Paris Once Platinum (Mfg, Retail) -----------------------(Fr 70.50)
1826: 1 Paris Once Platinum (Mfg, Retail) --------------------------(Fr 66.25 - 57.50)
Jan.-Mar. 1827: 1 Paris Once Platinum (Mfg, Retail) ------------------------(Fr 48.50)
Oct. 1827:  1 Paris Once Platinum (Mfg, Retail) ---------------------(Fr 46.25 - 44.00)

1822: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (sheet & mfg) = Thlr 6.38 ---------------- (Fr 23.5)

1823: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (do.) = Thlr 8.51-10.28 -----------------------(Fr 31.5 -38.)

Jan.-Mar. 1824: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (do.) = Thlr 9.21 ----------------------(Fr 32.50)

July & Aug. 1824: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (do.) = Thlr 11.34 -----------------(Fr 42.)

December, 1824: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (do.) = Thlr 14.8 ------------------------(Fr 55.)

Feb.-Mar. 1825: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (do.) = Thlr 14.88-15.59 ----------(Fr 55. - 57.5)

July, 1825: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (do.) = Thlr 12.76 -----------------------------(Fr 47.)

December, 1825: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (do.) = Thlr 17. ----------------(Fr 62.)
1826: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (do.) = Thlr 14.88 - 13.82 ------------(Fr 55. - 51.)
Jan.-Mar. 1827: 1 Troy Oz.Platinum (do.) Thlr 13.82 -----------------(Fr 51.)
Oct. 1827: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (do.) Thlr 11.69 - 10.63----(Fr 43.25 - 39.25)


Citation: Im Ural und Altai: Briefwechsel zwischen Alexander von Humboldt und Graf ...; A. von Humboldt, Egor F. Kankrin (1869)

Berlin Silbergewicht Loth = 14.61175 g.






Citation: Im Ural und Altai: Briefwechsel zwischen Alexander von Humboldt und Graf ...; A. von Humboldt, Egor F. Kankrin

The Platinum Peak occured in late December, the highest Paris Price recorded for several decades. The highest platina price in Choco presumably occurred in the Early Summer of 1825, prior to (local news of) Boussingault's discovery at Antioqua and probably after a major seizure of contraband platina in New Grenada.

The Paris Price ore price dropped suddenly in July 1827 and suddenly crashed 50% in (June/July?) 1828, without explanation or clarification from contemporaries. Presumably, the arrival of Russian platina and news of the Colombian government's decision to liquidate ore stocks collapsed a 'famine price.'

c.1825/6: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Paris retail) = Fr 35.56- 30.48 (USD$ 6.92-5.93)

Sept, 1828: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (sponge) = Fr 17.27- 19.30 (USD$ 3.39 - 3.79)

The commercial value of the platinum metals is second only to Gold. But for awhile now, there are large fluctuations in the price. Here in Frankfurt am Main, you would calculate the cash value of 3 ounces Platinum is now approximately equal to 1 ounce of Gold or 15 ounces of Silver; and so Platinum would be sold at Paris, 30 to 35 francs per Once p.d.m. By contrast, a latest news from from Paris reports: refined Platinum is now available for just 17-19 Francs, and platina ore is 10 -12 Francs ("ruiner"!) Perhaps the striking difference between these statements is partly grounded in varying degrees of purification.

Rubles at current exchange rates ("1 Fl. 49.5 Kr" to 24 Gulden-money) anticipated this 3 piece rubel (5 Fl. Kr 5.28) is worth close to one ducat, and in the proportion of Platinum to Gold, 5.0889 to 1.

Citation: Das Münzwesen in Teutschland nach seinem jetzigen zustand: mit Grundzügen zu ...Johann Ludwig Klüber (1828) p.212

French analysis of von Humboldt's precious metals data used a Reichsthaler forex 1: Fr 3.70

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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UK, 1822: W. & S. Jones' Catalogue; J.Newman Catalogue

June, 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Colombian estimate) =    (S$ 4.3276)


The Second Edition of Samuel Parkes"Chemical essays" (1823) refers to the scarcity of platina and Platinum by late 1822 or early 1823.

Citation: Chemical Essays: Principally Relating to the Arts and Manufactures Vol 1 (1823)  p.535.


Platinum began rising in Paris in 1821; London prices in this 1822 catalogue do not yet show that, but most catalogues omit Platinum prices altogether.  Prices, when given, are sometimes identified as approximate and may otherwise indicate market range (rather than just different weights.)

1821: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (semi-; mfg, whols.)  = £ 1.05 - 1.75 
...........(USD$ 5.23 - 8.44)

Citation: Catalogue of optical, mathematical, and philosophical instruments, made and sold by W. and S. Jones, (30) Lower Holborn, London (1822) p.14:

In the Francis Peabody Papers Annoted at the Phillips Library:

A Catalogue of Philosophical Instruments, Manufactured and Sold by J. Newman (adress cut; written in) 122 Regent Street, London. 1822

Manufactured Silver was about half as expensive as manufactured Platinum; given specific gravity (Pt = 21.4 versus Ag = 10.7) dishes of similar size & metal volume should be much pricier in Platinum.

pg. 2 "Wollaston's Blowpipe........ ......................... [£ 0.5] in Silver or Platinum [£ 0.75] to [£ 1.25]"

pg. 7 "Crucible, capsules and evaporating basins of platinum........................... [£ 0.5] to [£ 5.5]"

"Ditto of fine silver........................................................................................... [£ 0.25] to [£ 2.5]" 

"Platinum spoons............................................................................................. [£ 0.18]" 

"Silver ditto..................................................................................................... [£ 0.05] to [£ 0.18]"   

pg. 12 "Platina plates for the decomposition of the alkalies, by the battery....... [£ 1.5] to [£ 3.15]"

The Watkins & Hill Catalogues for 1827, 1829, 1832, 1833 do not ever quote Platinum nor Silver prices, but consistently indicate identical prices for this one item (1827, p. 25): 

"Pair of Platinum Plates on glass pillars for the decomposition of the alkalies..... [£ 1.5] to [£ 3.15]"

A catalogue of optical, mathematical, and philosophical instruments / manufactured and sold by Watkins and Hill. (aforementioned years) not otherwise useful for Pt prices.

Knight's advertised manufactured Platinum prices were consistent for at least a decade, but at undetermined weights.

Citation: Outlines of the geology of England and Wales, with an introductory... William Daniel Conybeare, William Phillips (1822) p474

On 17 July 1820, Edward Troughton paid £ 15.4375 for 21.25 Ozt of Platinum.

1820: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Wollaston: Trade, Bulk) = £ 0.70
1820: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Wollaston: Whols, Bulk) = £ 0.7265
1820: 1 Troy Oz. Pt (Estimated Labor: Whols.) = £ 0.1235
1820: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Manufacture: Whols.) = £ 0.8500

The amount of Platinum in a Troughton 8-Inch Sextant was 167 Grains (0.348 Ozt).  Assuming the Silver Scale .925 (Specific Gravity 10.4), with 77 Grains (0.1607 Ozt) Fine Ag and the Gold Scale 14k (Specific Gravity 14.5), 116.1 Grains (0.242 Ozt) Fine Au, the retail price difference between Silver, Platinum and Gold Sextants can be illustrated.

The cost of 0.348 Ozt Platinum was £ 0.2528, with labor ~ £ 0.2958.  In 1835, retail Silver-manufacture was ~44.5% higher than Fine Ag; assuming the same rate for 1822, the cost of 0.1607 Ozt Ag was ~£ 0.0431; the lowest retail manufactured rate for the Silver Scale piece might be £ 0.0623; specialist labor was more likely the same as for Platinum (~ 2s 5d.) ~£ 0.1208: the Silver Scale may have cost £ 0.1639. 

Assume then, the 8-Inch Sextant (net whichever PM scale) cost £ 18.7361, ∴ (the Platinum Scale @£ 21.) - 18.7361 = £ 2.6939 for 0.348 Ozt Pt =

1822: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Troughton's Mfg, Retail) ~ £ 6.51

4/1822: 1 Troy Ounce Silver (London Silverware .925) = £ 0.2479 
4/1822: 1 Troy Oz. Silver (Intrinsic .999) = £ 0.2680
4/1822: 1 Troy Oz. Silver (Mfg, Retail) = £ 0.3874

4/1822: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Mfg, Retail) ~ £ 6.4233
4/1822: 1 Troy Oz. Gold (Mfg, Retail) ~ £ 17.752

In the UK during the 1820s, Platinum sold retail in manufactured goods was considerably more expensive than the 'common price' for Gold, even before the 1825 Price Spike.

"from an invoice sent to the Secretary of the Board of Longitude in July 1822 and preserved with the Board’s papers. Two such sextants were provided, only one of which was new and priced at £ 21; the second-hand instrument cost five guineas less (£ 15.75)





July 1820: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (UK: trade) = £ 0.7265 (Fr 18.76)
Johnson's Coin, c.1821:  Platinum ~4x the Price of Silver



Paris Prices, in Sterling: 
c.January, 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Paris: Refined, retail) = £ 0.7138
June, 1822?: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Paris: Refined, retail) = £ 0.9373
August, 1822: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (refined) = £ 1.2612
January-December, 1823: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (refined) = £ 1.28 - £ 1.5039