France, 1854

c.1851: 1 Troy Ounce platina (Colombia: Ore, 82.5%) ~ Fr 21.50
c.1851: 1 Ozt. Pt (Colombia: Ore, .999) ~ Fr 26.05

1853: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Paris: Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = Fr 46.65 

1853: 1 Troy Oz. Pt (CA Spot: intrinsic) = Fr 25.52 (USD $ 5.)
1853: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Boston: Wire/Ingot, Ret.) = Fr 51.04 ($ 10.)  
1853: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (USA: Foil, Ret.) = Fr 73.50 ($ 14.40) 

1854: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (UK: Semi-Mfg., Trade) = Fr. 34.50 (£ 1.38)

1854: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (UK: Manufactured, Trade) = Fr. 37.50 (£ 1.50)

1854: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Bavaria: Mkt./Wire) ~ Fr 36.70 (Fl. 17.556) 
1854: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Bavaria: Fine Wire) ~ Fr 41.15 (Fl. 19.684) 
1854: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Bavaria: Mfg.) ~ Fr 46.70 (Fl. 22.344)

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

1854: 1 Troy Ounce platina (UK Import: Colombian/Ru Ore?) = Fr 9.30
1854: 1 Ozt. Pt (UK Import: Ore @ .999) = Fr 11.27
1854: 1 Ozt. platina (UK: Colombian/Ru Ore?) = Fr 9.33
1854: 1 Ozt. Pt (UK Import: Ore @ .999) = Fr 11.31
    

French retailers of Platinum (Horeau? not elsewhere indicated) :


 
c.1854 Price for Platinum Boiler



c.1854/5 Lightning Rod Tips, Fr. 50






1854 Import: 323.6 Kgs. = 10,404 Ozt valued at Frcs.967,800

1854: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Customs: Mfg?) = Fr 93.02 (USD$ 18.22)




From England, France imported 3,236 kgs of Platinum worth Fr. 967,800.: Fr. 299./kg
The assumed German price was Fr. 300./kg


 
c. 1854 source, dated price

France, 1875

Where the cost of refining was presumably ~Fr. 24./kg, 1 kg Pt = Fr. 1,094. - Fr 1,360
 
1875: 1 Troy Ounce platina (Paris, Retail) = Fr. 24.88
1875: 1 Troy Oz platina (Paris, Ret.) = Fr. 31.10

1875: 1 Troy Oz Pt (Paris: Intrinsic) = Fr. 33.265 - 41.582
1875: 1 Troy Oz Pt (Paris: Small Producer Cost) = Fr. 34.01 - 42.33
1875: 1 Troy Oz Pt (Paris: Small Producer Mfg) = Fr. 35.93 - 44.25


Per Kg: Fr 1,000 > Fr 938.35 > Fr 914.24 > Fr 683.85 > ~ Fr 445. - 513.

1875: 1 Troy Oz Platinum (Paris: Mfg, Bulk) = Fr. 31.10 
1875: 1 Troy Oz Platinum (Paris Net Mfg) = Fr. 29.19
1875: 1 Troy Oz platina (Paris: Intrinsic) = Fr. 28.44
1875: 1 Troy Oz platina (Paris: Ore: break-even) = Fr. 21.27
1875: 1 Troy Oz platina (Paris: Ore, Bulk) ~ Fr. 21.27

Citation: Bulletin de statistique et de législation comparée, Vol. 56 p.645

The Platinum Still which cost Fr 41,000 in 1872 cost Fr 50,000 in 1875: the reported price had risen 21.95% in three years.

Citation: Bulletin de la Société chimique de Paris, Annee 1876: 1er Semestre Tome XXV, p.



1875: 1 Troy Oz Platinum (Paris: Intrinsic, Bulk) = Fr. 31.10 



Citation: Le Moniteur scientifique du Doctor Quesneville: Journal ..., Vol. 39-40 G. A. Quesneville, p.664



1875: 1 Troy Ounce Platino-Iridium (Unique) = Fr. 101.98
1875: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Unique) = Fr. 90
1875: 1 Troy Oz. Iridium (Unique) = Fr. 200

 
 


Where the assumed intrinsic value of Gold-plated "Platinum" counterfeit FF 20 (0.1866 Ozt Fine Au) was ~Fr. 4. with 5.26 g Fine Platinum (Counterfeit Alloy: 81.5% Pt, 18.5% Cu with a Specific Gravity of 17.3 matches the Napoleon) actual Platinum cost delivered is unknown.

1874/5?: 1 Troy Oz Platinum (Paris: Intrinsic, Scrap?) ~ Fr. 23.66

Citation: Documents Rélatifs À la Question Monétaire Recueillis Et Publiés en Fascicules (1877) 1/20/1876




In this way, on a large scale, and or over 6 years (since before 1870), Isabellines, Napoleons, Sovereigns have manufactured in Spain. A certain quantity of these coins was introduced to  France by both trade borders by Carlist refugees.  Back in 1870, one of us had the opportunity to review a collection of these fake currencies.  A new collection has been exhibited in the conference of 1876, and we've seen that the forgers had made very considerable progress and were clean their latest products to deceive the public. 
[...]
Manufacturing centers are mainly Valencia and Barcelona. The workshops are equipped with hydraulic presses with which were stamped noiselessly "blanks" of platinum. One workshop in Barcelona would have provided for a million and a half of counterfeit currency; another would work in much larger proportions. The workshops were very well equipted and serviced by qualified mechanics and engravers. The sheets are produced in various parts of Europe by industrialists whose address was communicated; these sheets, according to the witness, were all 25 cm long, 8.5 cm wide and 0.3 cm thick. 

Alloy: 95% Pt, 5% Cu

Citation: Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons;  Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1877) p.31



BELGIUM:

1875: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (London: Intrinsic) = Fr 32.66

In reply, (to Ignatz Sroof, Direcrtor of the Griesheim Works near Hoechst/Frankfurt, Bavaria) Gustav Delplace of Namur Belgium cited Belgian prices for Platinum acquired from Johnson Matthey:

In the past 5 years, the price for 1 kg refined platinum fluctuated between Fr. 1,050 and Fr. 1,200  depending on the market price for the ore. {...} For the past 5 years, my apparatuses are from the platinum manufacturers Johnson Matthey & Company (Hatton Garden) made ​​in London.

Citation: Chemie-Arbeit in Werk und Labor, Vol. 3 1/1880 p.11
 


c.1875 Lightning Rod Tip often Lead, not pure Platinum

In Platinum, Chapuis Lightning Rod Tip weighed 10.627 Grams (~0.342 Ozt)

USA, 1823: Platinum Points

Platina Lightning Rod Points manufactured by machinist (clock- and gun-manufacturer) & mineralogist Isaiah Lukens (1779-1846) of Philadelphia.

These lightning-rod points  probably sold for $5. each.

1823:

Germany, 1824

reference



1817: "Platinum jets" (Accum) = £ 0.25 
1824: 2 Platinum jets (trade) = Thlr 1 (£ 0.1583 , Fr 3.81 )
1855: "Platinum jets" = USD$ 0.75 (1 ozt Pt, $9.60) 
 
Summer news (18 July 1824) from Cartagena, Colombia to Frankfurt Am Main arrived via London 11 weeks later. Fall news from St. Petersburg arrived 21-23 days later.

Citation: Repertorium für die Pharmacie, Vol. 19 (1824)

Citation:Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung (March, 1824)


February news reported April 30, 1824:

(1823?) Lightning rod conductor tips for Fr 4.

Die Platina scheint nun auch, außer den Laboratorien der Chemiker, sich mehr ins gemeine Leben den Weg zu bahnen. Die Wiener treffliche Porzellanfabrik liefert platinirte Tassen und Herr Ziegler-Steiner in Winterthur Blitzableiter-Spitzen aus reiner Platina, in welche eigends dazu gegossene starke Messing-Stücke auslaufen, die man auf ein Stuck Eisen angeschraubt, zusammen der dazu nothigen Schraube um den billigen Preis von vier Franken.

Besides the chemists' laboratories, Platinum now seems to be paving the way into common life ever more so. The Vienna Fine Porcelain Factory supplies platinized cups and Mr. Ziegler-Steiner in Winterthur {has} lightning rod tips of pure Platinum, which are to expressly tip strong cast brass pieces, which can be screwed to a piece of iron, together with the necessary screw, for the cheap price of four Francs.

Das Elfen wird hernaeh auf die Wetterftange angefetrw'eiti, diet wenn nth zu nahe Kamine eine größere Lange erfordert-r niclit über 6 Fuß betragen darf. Herr Ziegler legte Proben ,feiner Arbeit den r3. Februar der naturforfrdenden Gefelifidaft in Zürn) vor. Sicher ifi, daß die Piatina unter allen Metallen am meifien dem Verderben widerfteht- indeffen man oft die gewöhnlichen kupfe'rnen 'und vergoldeten Spider' verrofiet ' (orodire)t gerfreffen oder gekrümmt finden wodurch der beabfirhtigte Zwei' vereitelt wird.

Citation: Hesperus, Encyclopädische Zeitschrift für gebildete Leser; Ed. Christian Karl Andre (1824)


Higher price quoted in 1825

Citation: Archives des découvertes et des inventions nouvelles..., Vol. 17 (1825) p.112




November 1824: News from St. Petersburg (21 days later) of the massive Uralian Gold Yield in the First Half; platina mentioned. It is not clear if/when any of the platina reached Europe - several months later?

1824? Exchange Rate
 

USA, 1834/5: French Platinum Price ; Brown & Francis Catalogue (NYC, 1836)

1835: Troy Ounce Platinum (manufactured, retail) ~ $ 18.


December, 1835: Estimated Price for Construction Materials, Delaware Bay Lighthouse. Platina points were cheaper in New York City, in 1848.

Citation: Congressional Edition, Vol. 280  US Congress (1836) p. 89

Despite fluctuating market prices 1828-34, Russia's Platinum coinage is commonly believed to have preserved "an exact mean between Gold & Silver."

c.1834:

Citation: Railway locomotives and cars, Vol. 4, Part 1, April 1835 p.256

Boston: Two Claxton & Wightman Catalogues from 1835 are included in Joseph Brown's Advertiser of Philosophical & Astronomical Apparatus, Issued Quarterly at his Manufactory.... (Boston: Dutton & Wentworth, 1835.)  Both list "Platina Wire, Sponge and Foil" (p.11; p.3) but no prices are given.

c.1835: 1 Troy Ounce of Platinum (semi-mfg, sheet, mkt.) = USD$ 7.50

1834: 1 Troy Ounce of Platinum (refined, Paris retail)  = Fr 31.1 (USD$ )
1835: 1 Troy Ounce of Platinum (refined, Paris retail)  = Fr 31.1 (USD$ 5.82) 
1836:  1 Troy Ounce Platinum  = Fr 29.55 - 31.10 (USD$ 5.65 - 5.94)  
1836: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (semi-mfg, whols.)  = £ 1.20 - 1.75 (USD$ 5.83 - 8.51)

Citation: Supplement, An experimental guide to chemistry, By Edward Davy, 1836 (end pages; p.4)

 

1835: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (manufactured)  = £ 1.70 (USD$ 8.25)

Platinum-tipped forceps were sold from the Davy Catalogues at £ 0.30 (~USD$ 1.45) and in the Catalogue of philosophical and astronomical apparatus, manufactured by J. Brown, C.S. Francis, 252 Broadway, New-York (1836) for USD$ 1.50.

Other goods in the Brown & Francis Catalogue may not be imports, but US prices were probably near British catalogue prices.

1835: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (manufactured)  > USD$ 8.50



c.1833/4: 1 Troy Ounce of Platinum (refined, Paris whols.)  > Fr 20.32 (USD$ 3.76)
1834: 1 Troy Ounce Palladium (refined, Price Collapse) = Fr 28.44  (USD$ 5.22)   

Citation: Family magazine: or, Monthly abstract of general knowledge, Vol. 3 (1835-6) p.141

France 1847: Paris Chemist Catalogue

October 1847: Quesneville, successor to Nicolas Louis Vauquelin's Catalogue (?)

Citation: Revue scientifique et industrielle, Vol. 31 (10/1847) p.149


1847: 1 Troy Ounce platina (Ore 75%, Retail) = Fr 24.88 (USD$ 4.75)
1847: 1 Troy Oz. Pt (Ore @.999, Ret.) = Fr 33.18 (USD$ 6.34) 
1847: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Sponge, Refined, Ret.) = Fr 37.32 (USD$ 7.13)
1847: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = Fr Fr 37.32 (USD$ 7.13)
 
1847: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum-Black (Residue, Ret.) = Fr 6.22 (USD$ 1.19)


1847: 1 Troy Oz. Palladium (Refined, Retail) = Fr 124.41 (USD$ 23.75)




1847: 1 Troy Oz. Iridium (Ore?, Retail) = Fr 31.103 (USD$ 5.94)
1847: 1 Troy Oz. Osmiridium (Ore, Retail) = Fr 46.66 (USD$ 8.91)






1847: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum Chloride (PtCl₂, Ret.) = Fr 31.103 (USD$ 5.94)



1847: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum Oxide (PtO2, Ret.) = Fr. 37.32 (USD$ 7.13)



Prices fell by a third, from this 1846 catalogue.

1847: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Mfg, Bulk) = Fr 30.72 (USD$ 5.72) 

1847: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Ore, Ret.) = Fr 24.88 (USD$ 4.75)  

1847: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Sponge, Refined) = Fr 37.32 (USD$ 7.13) 

1847: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Semi-Mfg) = Fr 37.32 (USD$ 7.13)  

1847: 1 Troy Oz. Palladium (Refined) = Fr 124.40 (USD$ 23.75) 

1847: 1 Troy Oz. Iridium (Refined) = Fr 93.30 (USD$ 17.82)  

Citation: Revue scientifique et industrielle, Vol. 27 (1847) p.129

Citation: Catalogue des livres francais, grecs, latins, allemand, anglais, espagnols ; Hector Bossange (1847)

c.1847/8: (Paul et Gabriel) Rousseau Frères

1847: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum Chloride (PtCl₂, Ret.) = Fr 31.103 (USD$ 5.94)

1847: 1 Troy Oz. Pt-Ir Sponge (Sponge, Ret.) = Fr 34.214 (USD$ 6.53)



Citation: Chimie élémentaire avec ses principales applications aux arts;  Apollinaire Bouchardat (1848) pp 595-




 

1921: "Mousse de platine" was unpurified Platinum-Iridium Sponge.


1847: 1 Troy Ounce platina (in Russia) = Fr 10.68 (USD$ 2.04)




1847: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (High Grade Scrap?) = Fr 34.99 (USD$ 6.68)

Citation: Journal des économistes, Vol. 33, By Société de statistique de Paris (1852) p.122

c. 1847: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Mfg)  = Fr 30.72 (USD$ 5.86)  

c. 1848: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Retail)  = Fr 37.32 (USD$ 7.13) 

Although the still indicated here is much larger, the price per Troy Ounce was about the same as in 1832.  This price persistence & stability may have been due to certain governmental decrees and regulations, which effectively fixed a floor.

Worked Platinum was often indicated at 1,000 Fr./kg.; likewise, it's perhaps not coincidental that the "80,000 Francs" price for a Platinum still was repeated as late as 1889 (unlikely as an actual cost, given Platinum's spectacular rise after 1874.) 

Citation: Précis de chimie industrielle à l'usage des écoles préparatoires aux ... Anselme, M. Payen (1849) p.98.

1848: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Intrinsic)  = Fr 24.88 (USD$ 4.75) 


Citation: Annalen der Physik und Chemie, Vol. 2; Vols. 73-74 (No. 6; 1848) p.320

1845: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (semi-mfg., retail)  = Fr. 40.43 - 46.65 (USD$ 7.99 - 9.) 


Citation: Maison centrale de droguerie: prix courant général 1845, p. 50



Although neither edition quoted Platinum by the gram, the Bossange catalog had the same prices for Grove batteries in 1845 and 1847.  This suggests a stable retail price.


Citation: Catalogue générale de Hector Bossange (1845) p.55






Citation: 1ere Supplement ; Catalogue générale de Hector Bossange (1847) p.55

Lightning Rod Tip, Fr. 20. -25. (USD$ 3.84 - 4.80)

c. 1848: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Ret.)  = Fr 37.32 (USD$ 7.13) 

1848: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (NYC: Semi-Mfg, Trade)  = USD$ 11.00  

c.1848: 

Citation: Manipulations électrotypiques ou traité de Galvanoplastie ; Charles-V. Walker, J. Fau (1849) p.148

Chlorure de platine sec, le gramme (variable).... 1 Fr.

Platine en fils de diverses grosseurs .... 1 20 Fr.

Dental pivots were a Platinum alloy, perhaps 30% Ag:


1847: Platinum Workers in Paris