UK, 1853

Edward Wolstenholme Ward (E.W. Ward) was named Captain in 1852; he was sent to New South Wales, Australia in 1854.  His earlier report (as a Lieutenant) included Portsmouth retail Platinum prices (1850).

1850: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Portsmouth, UK: Sheet, Whols.)  = £ 1.60 (USD$ 7.79)

1853: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = £ 1.40 (USD$ 6.50)
1853: 1 Troy Oz. Gold (Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = £ 4.25 (USD$ 19.73) 

1853: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Paris: Semi-Mfg, Ret.) ~ £ 1.86 (Fr 46.65)

1855: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Trade) = £ 1.30 (USD$ 6.36)

Foil Battery, ea.: Pt 1.73 Grams/ 26.66 Grains Troy = £ 0.2611 (USD$ 1.21) 
Sheet Battery, ea.: Pt 9.41 Grams/ 145.2 Grains Troy = £ 0.5917 (USD$ 2.75) 

Dalgleish Pt Battery, ea.: Pt 25.815 Grams/ 398.4 Grains Troy = £ 1.462 (USD$ 6.79)  

Grove's Battery:
Where One Box was 7" long x 4" wide x 4" tall, factoring case, each cell should have been 2" x 2" wide (x4" tall?), with ~145 Grains Troy (~9.41 Grams)

1853: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Ret.) = £ 1.35 (USD$ 6.27)
     Citation: Papers on Subjects Connected with the Duties of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Vol. 4 (1855)


 


1853: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Mfg., Ret.) = £ 1.75 (USD$ 8.51)

Citation: Transactions, Vol. 1, ; North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, p.453


1853:





Commercial value of platina : ~50% Gold.



1852/3: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Ore, Retail) = £ 0.823 (USD$ 4.0)

1852/3:
Citation: Rheinisches Mineralien-Comptoir: Catalogue of mineralogical, geological... A. Krantz (1853)
 

c.1855: "Rhodium" (Iridium) for Pen Points

USA, 1928

1928: 1 Troy Ounce platina (Colombian ore) = USD$ 67.41
1928: 1 Troy Oz. PGMs (Colombian ore) = USD$ 71.37
 
1928: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Russian ingot) = USD$ 74.99
1928: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (German Sheet) = USD$ 80.09 
1928: 1 Troy Oz. Iridium (mkt) = USD$ 117.96 
1928: 1 Troy Oz. Osmium (mkt) = USD$ 65.51
1928: 1 Troy Oz. Palladium (mkt) = USD$ 60.60
1928: 1 Troy Oz. Rhodium(mkt) = USD$ 53.13
 


Citation: Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the USA 1928. Bureau of the Census (1929) p.279

UK, 1909: Price-Hike for Australian Ore

1909: 1 Troy Ounce platina (Australian Ore, intrinsic) = £ 2.875 (USD$ 14.00)
1909: 1 Ozt. platina (Australian Ore, intrinsic) = £ 3.75 (USD$ 18.27)
1909: 1 Ozt. Platinum ~ £ 4.3545 (USD$ 21.21)
1909: 1 Troy Ounce of Platinum = USD$ 24.87

Citation: Treatise on general and industrial inorganic chemistry, By Ettore Molinari (1920) p.850




See Official Year Book of the Commonwealth of Australia No. 4 - 1911 ; Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics.

"In September 1909, the price paid locally {Fifield/Parkes, NSW} for the Platinum was increased from £ 2 17s. 6d. to £ 3 15s." 75-90% purity

 

1920s Assay?

Citation: Geological Survey Professional Paper, Vols. 630-631


1909: 1 Troy Oz. Rhodium = £ 20.22 (USD$ 98.45)

Rhodium was 13 shillings per gram in 1909.

UK, 1910

Germany 1910

1910: 1 Troy Ounce of platina = £ 6.97 (USD$ 33.86)
1910: 1 Troy Ounce of Platinum = USD$ 33.70
1910: 1 Troy Oz. Chlor-Platinate Solution = £ 1.3719 (USD$ 6.66)

If 1 Troy Oz of Platinum solution has not more than 94 grains of pure Platinum, where 1 lb. avd. Solution has less than ~2.87 ozt pure Pt. 

Citation: Platers' Guide: With which is Combined Brass World, Vol. 7 (Dec. 1910)


1910: 1 Troy Ounce of Iridium (Source, bulk) = £ 9.95 (USD$ 48.37)
1910: 1 Troy Ounce of Rhodium (whols.) = £ 18.66 (USD$ 90.70)

Citation: Treatise on general and industrial inorganic chemistry; Ettore Molinari (1920) p.850

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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Russia, 1868: First Chemically Pure Rhodium

As described by Bunsen, in a serious laboratory accident (1868):

1866:  Johnson & Matthey ingot, prepared by the Deville-Debray Method (1859?)

Global, 1823: Rhodium Price

In describing the the incidence & difficulty treating Rhodium-Gold, M. Del Rio in Mexico cryptically rebuked another unnamed European scientist & refiner of Rhodium. Apparently, some secretive monopolist had refused to assist a fellow scientist with information to efficiently cupel Rhodium from Gold: a professional discourtesy and minor scandal. 
 
Dr. Henry Hyde Wollaston seems the most likely target for this tacit accusation. He had discovered the metal (1805); in this period, there's no record of any other scientist working with so much platina residue for Rhodium production. In earlier incidents, Wollaston had been accused of secrecy and opportunism by other chemists; he also only published his platinum refining method (which had been ascertained by others) on his deathbed in 1828.

In the same letter of rebuke, Del Rio contradicts Wollaston by name; furthermore, a couple of years earlier the English chemist had mutually unsatisfactory dealings with Arago (the Paris publisher for this rebuke) over pricing another PGM product, Auropalladium. In one of his Notebooks, Wollaston mentioned the Frenchman did not pay nor thank him!

Since an English chemist (rather than Breant or any other European Gold assayist) was the purported offender, little wonder the Mexican's professional scorn came to print in a most highly regarded Paris journal. The French and the English: going at it once again.

Reviewing the Rhodium Notebook, Kronberg, Coatsworth & Usselman (1981)* calculated Wollaston had refined 129.5 Troy Ounces in 1819, the largest quantity then known. Presuming Wollaston accurately informed the French and/or Del Rio (for how else would they know the value of his Rhodium) this weight permits an approximate valuation and calculation for a Producer's Cost. Where 1,800 piastres ~ Fr 9,063. - 9,594, and 1 peso = 4s 6d:

1823: 1 Troy Ounce Rhodium (Producer's Cost) = £ 3.13
.... Peso/USD$ 13.90; Fr 70.-74.

It is also highly relevant to note that in 1822-25 Wollaston was just beginning to successfully merchandize his own Rhodium Alloy in a manufactured state, as nibs for "Rhodium Pens." Any other large scale Rhodium production would potentially have jeopardized his own revenue and enterprise. It is also reported he had not been successful selling his Palladium, although other scientists mention a persistent high price for Pd.

1822 - 1825: 1 Troy Oz. Rhodium (Retail) = £ 15.00 (USD$ 72. - 75.)

Wollaston merchandized his Rhodium at ~ 5x higher than his cost.  Rhodium tips were 4:1 Rhodium/Tin, 2 per nib (£ 0.050) @ 0.46 Grain per tip; the pens sold 'trade' for £ 0.20. 

The initial retail price was likely £ 1. in 1822, falling to £ 0.75 in 1828, then £ 0.50 by the mid-1830s.

See B. I. Kronberg; L. L. Coatsworth; M. C. Usselman: "The Artifact as Historical Document Part 2: The Palladium and Rhodium of W. H. Wollaston." Ambix, 28(1), pp. 20–35 

1825: 1 Troy Ounce Rhodium Tin Alloy (Trade: .80 Rh) = £ 12.
1825: 1 Troy Oz. Rhodium (Trade: .999 Rh) = £ 15.
1825: 1 Troy Oz. Rhodium (Trade: Mfg: .80 Rh) = £ 26.09
1825: 1 Troy Oz. Rhodium (Trade: Mfg: .999 Rh) = £ 32.69

The 1827 German report of the December 1824 Mexican notice indicates that Dr. Wollaston's alloy was only 20-25% Rh (80-75% Au) not pure.

Citation: Annalen der Physik und Chemie, Vol. 10 (1827) p.322



Rhodium-Gold (Au 57% - Au 66%) from Mexico, analyzed c. 1823:




The French published rhodium refining techniques in 1822.

USA, 1910

1910: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (NYC: Avg Ingot) = USD$ 32.70
1910: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (St.Pb ingot) = USD$ 26.96

1910: Russian Ingot at St. Petersburg and New York, for comparison.



See George F. Kunz' "Platinum" for detailed review of New York Monthly Prices, 1910 - 1921

Citation: The Mineral Industry, Vol. 29 p.547



9/1910: 1 Troy Oz Platinum (NYC: Avg Ingot) = USD$ 33.63

 1910: NY Monthly Mkt Prices for Refined Ingot



 
1910: 1 Troy Oz Palladium (German Mkt) = ℳ 119.75 (USD$ 28.50)
1910: 1 Troy Oz Rhodium (German Mkt) = ℳ 497.66 (USD$ 118.44) 
1910: 1 Troy Oz Iridium (German Mkt) = ℳ 152.41 (USD$ 36.27) 
1910: 1 Troy Oz Osmium (German Mkt) = ℳ 118.19 (USD$ 28.13)
1910: 1 Troy Oz Ruthenium (German Mkt) = ℳ 245.72 (USD$ 58.48)

1910: 1 Troy Ounce Palladium (NYC: Import) = USD$ 32.75
1910: 1 Troy Ounce Rhodium (NYC: Import) = USD$ 60.50
1910: 1 Troy Ounce Iridium (NYC: Import) = USD$ 46.33
1910: 1 Troy Ounce Osmium (NYC: Import) = USD$ 33.70

1910: 1 Troy Ounce Rhodium (NYC: Retail) = USD$ 155.52

Osmium & other PGMs:

As late at 1910, most Platinumware was not pure, and pure Platinum articles were 30% more expensive in the USA.