USA: Hiram M. Raynor, Dealer (1862-1890)

Presumably the son of Hiram Raynor (of Hempstead, Long Island), the retired publisher/envelope vendor (of H.&.S. Raynor), Hiram M. Raynor was established by 1862 as the junior partner in a Manhattan dental mercantile:

November, 1862:
 

Spring, 1864:
 

1864:
 

1865:
 

Trow's New York City Directory (for 1871/2) and Goulding's New York City Directory (1877) :
 
1871: American self-promotion often included dubious claims of "firsts" (ignoring the Malvern Works established in 1842 and E.A.L. Roberts in 1858) :

Reported May 1890:

Domestic Platinum mines.—In view of the prominent place that platinum has taken in the electrical manufacturing industry, and more especially because of the recent advance in its price, it is a relief to know that we are now to have the material from domestic mines. Mr. H. M. Raynor, well known as one of the oldest of manufacturers, has sold all his dies and his machinery for platinum wire drawing to Jas. Shawel & Co., 29 John Street, who are now able to produce wire of any gauge. Mr. Raynor has gone into platinum mining in the West. The mines are yielding large quantities of first grade platinum. It would be well for the manufacturers of platinum goods in this country to seize this opportunity for purchasing the domestic product.

1892:
For this column I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. HM Raynor, the pioneer of New York in the platinum trade, who courteously gave me the invoice prices of his imports of plate and sponge from 1867 to 1890. To these prices three per

USA, 1867 - 1902: Neumann's Record

Bernhard Heinrich Neumann (1867-1953) worked as a practical chemist (1877/8) and began studies in electrochemistry around 1890.

His monograph, Die Metalle, Geschichte, Vorkommen, Gewinnung Statistik, 1903 includes a table with US trade prices quoted in German Marks. The original data is from two American sources, "M. Raynor" and the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia.  Herr 'M. Raynor' is in fact H.M. Raynor of New York.

The original price-table in USD$ was published by Charles Bullman, in an article of The Mineral Industry, Vol. 1, 1892.   Bullman's (problematic) data originates in Raynor's invoice list from Johnson & Matthey, in Pound Sterling.  Implicitly, prices were in US Gold, not German Marks nor (fluctuating) US paper currency, and herein lies one part of the error.

Bullman apparently used one forex rate and added a 3% shipping cost.

Citation: The Mineral Industry, Vol. 1, 1892, p.389

For this column I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. HM Raynor, the pioneer of New York in the platinum trade, who courteously gave me the invoice prices of his imports of plate and sponge from 1867 to 1890. To these prices three per cent is added...

Citation: Die Metalle: Geschichte, Vorkommen und Gewinnung, nebst ausführlicher ... By Bernhard Neumann (1904) p.367

Geo. F. Kunz's April 1898 'Lecture to the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia' : 
(USA) Platinum Wire, 1883-1898

Citation: Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol. 146 ; Franklin Institute (Philadelphia, Pa.: 1898) p.210.


Bullman's calculated exchange rate USD$ 4.865 per Citation: Coinage laws of the United States, 1792 to 1894, with an appendix of ... US Senate Committee on Finance (1894)


c.1890/1:
Johnson & Matthey refining cost, per Troy Oz. Pt = £ 0.0625 (USD$ 0.30)
Small firm's refining cost, per Troy Oz. Pt = £ 0.1250 (USD$ 0.61)

Citation: Economic mining: a practical handbook for the miner, the metallurgist... ; Charles George Warnford Lock (1895) p.587

Recent Annual PMG Prices

New York Dealers' Prices 1998-2008

USA, Late 1850s - Early 1860s: American Platinum Refiners

EAL Roberts, of Bond Street NYC:

Citation: Our country's wealth and influence: Shown by tracing in historical form from ... By Linus Pierpont Brockett, Henry Barnard (1882)

USA, 1854: NYC Chemists' Catalogues (Kent)

1854: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Manufactured, Retail) = $ 14.40 - 28.80

1854:1 Ozt. Platinum (Refined) = $ 9.60 - 12.0
1854: 1 Ozt. platina (Ore, Ret.) = $8.0
1854: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Scraps, whols.) = $8.0

1854: 1 Ozt. Platinum Chloride (PtCl₂, Ret.) = $ 10.
1854: 1 Fluid Oz. Platinum Chloride (PtCl₂, Ret.) = $ 1.
1854: 1 Oz. Ammonium Chloroplatinate ([NH4]2[PtCl6], Ret.) = $ 10. 
1854: 1 Oz. Potassium Tetrachloroplatinate (K2PtCl4, Ret.) = $ 10.
  
Citation: Descriptive catalogue of chemical apparatus, chemicals and pure reagents (1854 Kent Catalogue, p.14)

Citation: Descriptive catalogue of chemical apparatus, chemicals and pure reagents (1854 Kent Catalogue, p.33)


Citation: Descriptive catalogue of chemical apparatus, chemicals and pure reagents (1854 Kent Catalogue, p.50)


Citation: Descriptive catalogue of chemical apparatus, chemicals and pure reagents (1854 Kent Catalogue, p.51)

c.1854: 1 Ozt Platinum? (Alloy? Semi-Mfg, Whols.) = USD$ 8.78

Citation: Shaffner's telegraph companion: devoted to the science and art ..., Volumes 1-2, Taliaferro Preston Shaffner (1854), p.40.

In Chamberlain & Ritchie's Descriptive catalogue of philosophical apparatus. : Chamberlain & Ritchie, nos. 2 & 9 School Street, Boston (c.1854)

p. 346 "Platina Foreceps, 3.00"
p. 347 "Platina Spatulas, 1.50, 2., and 2.50"




Iridosmine in No. Cal. :
  



On the US market, retail Platinum appears to be 4x less than retail Gold or 'about half the [common price] of Gold. Minor PGM discoveries on the West Coast were not well-appreciated in San Francisco: auro-platinum was difficult to sell!

1854/5:


1854: Port Orford "platina" was mostly Osmiridium, and only ~ 44% Platinum

Lt Williamson's 1853 expedition for the Corps of Topographical Engineers confirmed Platinum at sites in California. The ore was 43.54% Pt, 93.68% PGMs.

Osmium-Iridium ............. 49.37%
Approx. Iridium ............. ~26%
Approx. Osmium ............. ~21%

Platinum ........................... 43.54%
Rhodium ..............................0.60%
Palladium .............................0.50%
Gold ......................................1.32% 

Citation: Report of a geological reconnaissance in California: &c ; William Phipps Blake (1858)

 


USA imports of Platinum and platina:

Citation: The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, Vol. 32;  Freeman Hunt



circa 1854: Dental alloy of Gold & Platinum (0.916/0.083; 0.83/0.16) for Plate


Another alloy


Using Platinum to solder teeth:



1854/5: US Import



c.1854

1854: A Madrid banking source indcates the same Au-Pt ratio (1:4) explicitly.

Adjusting for Real Inflation since 1854 (5,727%) we can extrapolate a long term price for wholesale refined Platinum @ $ 466. (in 2009 USD$) The respective platinum price is inflation-projected to ~ $ 565. per Troy Ounce in 2009 Dollars.

USA, 1921: Secrecy of US Platinum Refiners, >60% Price Collapse Noted.

Platinum was 233x the Price of Silver in January, but down to 123.4x the Price of Silver in December.


January, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Refined, Mkt) = USD$ 155. 
February, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Refined, Mkt) = USD$
March, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Refined, Mkt) = USD$  
April, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Refined, Mkt) = USD$ 
May, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Refined, Mkt) = USD$ 
June, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Refined, Mkt) = USD$ 
July, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Refined, Mkt) = USD$ 80.
August, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Refined, Mkt) = USD$ 120.
September, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Refined, Mkt) = USD$ 
October, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Refined, Mkt) = USD$ 
November, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Refined, Mkt) = USD$ 
December, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Refined, Mkt) = USD$ 75.




The Price of Silver in January was $0.664; in July $0.5851; in December,

John Story Jenks Collection Sale, mid-December 1921 shows the numismatic premium at very high Platinum prices was only ~26.5%.

An 1831 "Proof" 12-Rouble coin sold for $150.; where a full-weight 12-Rouble was 1.3292 ozt. (638 Grains Troy)

December, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Numismatic: 12-руб) = USD$ 112.85
December, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Numismatic: 6-руб) = USD$ 133.73
December, 1921: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Numismatic: 3-руб) = USD$ 87.15

Citation: The Numismatist, Vol. 35 (1922) p.226




 
Following the parabolic price rise of Platinum in WW1, the US refined market collapsed from the beginning of 1920 through the summer of 1921. 


With Russian platinum embargoed, supplies dwindled; the US govt's strategic stockpile was released, @ $ 85./oz. in 1919. Demand remained strong; then a speculative frenzy drove the spot price 60% higher in the next few months. That Peak & Crash were epic, perhaps a record.

January 26, 1920: NY Spot Price = $160./oz
August 1, 1921: NY Spot Price = $ 65./oz

Contemporary US government summaries do not convey the extent of the Platinum Price Collapse: see the 1919-1920 Metal Price Chart.

In 1920, the Spot Price of Platinum fell from $160. to ~ $83.50 by year end, or -47.8%. The price fell further in July/August, a low of $58. is mentioned. That's a total decline of -63.75% from the Peak within 20 months. Between 1920 and 1921, the Canadian Platinum Producer Price likewise dropped -58.6% ($ 67.63 > $ 27.97) .

Citation: Tariff information surveys on the articles in paragraph 1 ..., Issues 333-386; United States Tariff Commission (1921), p.34.

Citation: Metal industry, Vol.19 (1921), p.56


A time of secrecy & smuggling (again)?

Citation: The Mining magazine, Vol. 23 (1920), p.116.



Gauges of Wire, Foil, etc.

Pure Platinum Foil (Light, 0.03 mm): 1 Sq. In. = 5.45 Grains
Pure Platinum Foil (Medium, 0.04 mm): 1 Sq. In. = 8.18 Grains
Pure Platinum Foil (Heavy, 0.05 mm): 1 Sq. In. = 10.88 Grains




Pure Platinum Wire (Heavy?, 2.02 mm): 12 In. = 328.25 Grains

 

In the last 30 years of the 19th C., Platinum rose 367%; Pt peaked 50 years after 1870.
At the same time, Silver and fell -53.4% on London.

1899-1921:
Citation: Engineering and Mining Journal, Vol. 112 American Institute of Mining Engineers (1921) p.478

Adjusting for Real Inflation since 1920 (5,206%) we can extrapolate the "1920 Peak" spot price for Platinum (refined ingot, 89% pure) to be $ 8,490. (in 2009 USD$.)

Adjusting for Real Inflation since 1921 (5,238%) the lowest 1921 Platinum Spot Price would be $ 3,469. (in 2009 USD$.)