1795

Prior to 1795:
Where 32 Reales = L.T. 15.30, S$ 1 = L.T 3.83, and 10 Arrobas = 1,879.527 Paris Marcs
∴ 16,000 Reales = S$ 2,000.; L.T. 7,650,  so 1 Paris Marc cost L.T. 4.07; S$ 1.064097

1795: "4 Reales/Onza" = 64 Reales/Libra = S$ 8. at Chocó?
At the Spanish Onza (0.9243 Ozt), 4 Reales = S$ 0.50 x 16,000 Onza = S$ 8,000.
∴ 64,000 Reales = L.T. 30,600, so 1 Paris Marc cost L.T. 16.2807; S$ 4.2564

Highest estimates follow the presumed Chocó Base-Spot, largely consisted with recorded price differentials between trade points in 1802, 1814, and 1818.

c.1795: ~"8 Reales/Onza" = 128 Reales/Libra = S$ 16. at Cartegena
At the Spanish Onza (0.9243 Ozt), 8 Reales = S$ 1.00 x 16,000 Onza = S$ 16,000.
∴ 128,000 Reales = L.T. 61,200, so 1 Paris Marc cost L.T. 40.70; S$ 8.513

c.1795: ~"10 Reales/Onza" = 160 Reales/Libra = S$ 20. at Jamaica

At the Spanish Onza (0.9243 Ozt), 10 Reales = S$ 1.25 x 16,000 Onza = S$ 20,000.
∴ 160,000 Reales = L.T. 76,500, so 1 Paris Marc cost L.T. 32.5614; S$ 10.64

c.1795: ~"12 Reales/Onza" = 192 Reales/Libra = S$ 24. at Philadelphia

At the Spanish Onza (0.9243 Ozt), 12 Reales = S$ 1.50 x 16,000 Onza = S$ 24,000.
∴ 192,000 Reales = L.T. 91,800, so 1 Paris Marc cost L.T. 48.8421; S$ 12.77

c.1795: ~"18 Reales/Onza" = 288 Reales/Libra = S$ 36. at London

At the Spanish Onza (0.9243 Ozt), 18 Reales = S$ 2.25 x 16,000 Onza = S$ 36,000.
∴ 288,000 Reales = L.T. 137,700, so 1 Paris Marc cost L.T. 73.2632; S$ 19.15

1795: "20 Reales/Onza" = 320 Reales/Libra = S$ 40. at Paris, trade?
At the Spanish Onza (0.9243 Ozt), 20 Reales = S$ 2.50 x 1,600 Onza = S$ 40,000.
∴ 320,000 Reales = L.T. 153,300, so 1 Paris Marc cost L.T. 81.4035; S$ 21.28

If 20 Livres/Once, = 320 L.T./Livre p.d.m or 160 L.T./Marc. = S$ 38.10/Livre;
S$ 19.05/Marc. 


The wholesale price of Crown platina ore was debated, unchanged. For the Spanish Crown this base-cost does not appear to include transport, salaries, etc. therefore it must be an absolute European low price for ore, rather than anything approaching a market-price.

?-1794: 1 Troy Ounce platina (Spanish Crown) = S$ 0.1352 (L.T. 0.5206)
1795: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Chocó Spot) = S$ 0.541 (L.T. 2.069)
1795/6 : 1 Troy Oz. platina (Paris Market) = S$ 1.48 (L.T. 10.345)

Citation: Platina española para Europa en el siglo XVIII, LF CAPITAN VALLVEY (1994) 

The most important executed request was by France in late 1795, in which the charge d'affaires of the French Republic solicited 10 arrobas of platina for the Committee of Public Instruction, a request possibly related to the manufacture of the new weights standards being manufactured in Paris at that time by Marc Étienne Janety (1739 - 1820), for already in November of that year he began working with 200 marcs {1,573.8 Ozt} of platina [59].  No objections were made to the request to graciously give platina, by asking of the Hacienda about what importance is 10 Arrobas {14,790 Ozt}, according to estimates they believed this Metal has [60].  The response indicates that platina has been purchased 4 Reales per Onza {S$ 0.541} so that the total 16,000 Reals {P$ 500. @ L.T. 15.4 = L.T. 7,700 for 10 Arrobas} should not be charged thus, as has been done in the past.

La petición más importante es la llevada a cabo por Francia hacia finales de 1795{"3"?} en la que el encargado de negocios de la Repŭblica Francesa solicita 10 arrobas de platina bruta para la Junta de Instrucción Pŭblica, petición posiblemente relacionada con la fabricación de los nuevos pesos patrón que por esa fecha se están fabricando en París por Marc Étienne Janety (1739- 1820), quien ya en noviembre de ese año empieza a trabajar con 200 marcos de platina bruta [59]. No se ponen reparos a la solicitud, aunque sí a ceder graciosamente la platina, pidiéndose a Hacienda información acerca de quanto importan las 10 Arrobas, segŭn la estima que se cree tiene este Metal [60]. En la respuesta se señala que se ha pagado la platina a 4 reales la onza, por lo que el total importa 16.000 reales y que no debe cobrarse, al igual que se ha hecho en otras ocasiones. 

1795/6 : 1 Troy Oz. platina (Spanish Market, retail?) = S$ 1.48 (L.T. 10.345)

Not convinced by this resolution seems to be Madrid lapidary Pedro Puch, who said that the price of  platina is "20 Reals/Onza" {December 1796} and for that it should be resolved Chabaneau deliver the platina to the French charge d'affaires on payment of the amount [62]; however the consul received and paid for the expressed amount untreated, according to Pierre-Francois Chabaneau [63]. Later Godoy informed the Treasury that the King has seen fit not to charge the platina to Paris. [64] Nicolas Butrow, charge d'affaires at the Russian court, asks a few libras of platina in 1798 for a minister, whose name is not stated...

No debe convencer esta resolución y se pide parecer al lapidario madrileño Pedro Puch quien declara que el precio de la platina es de "20 reales/onza" por lo que se resuelve que Chabaneau entregue la platina al encargado de negocios francés previo abono del importe [62]; sin embargo el cánsul recibió la expresada cantidad sin tratar de su pago, segŭn acaba de participar D. n Fran. c° Chavaneau [63]. Tiempo después Godoy comunica a la Secretaría de Hacienda que el rey ha tenido a bien no cobrar la platina a París [64]. Nicolas Butrow, encargado de negocios de la corte de Rusia, pide en 1798 algunas libras de platina para un ministro, cuyo nombre no se señala, de la

c.1795?: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (refined) @ Paris ~ Livre 99.77

c.1795?: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (refined) @ London ~ £4.23

c.1795: 1 Troy Oz. Gold @ New York = USD$ 19.39

If the Crown rate was Reals 4/Onza and the contraband rate 50% higher, then 


1795 - : 1 Troy Oz. platina (Spanish Crown, bequest) = S$ 0.811 (L.T. 3.104) 

c.1795/6: The platina price in Sante Fe was not too high, with exports in quantity



1795: Platinum was mostly silver!

Pre-1795 Louis d'Or valued 24 Livres = (8.158 g) 22 karat (.917 fine) > 7.48 g fine gold >

1 Troy Ounce Fine Gold = Livres 99.77, or converted to hyper-inflated Francs:

(8/1/1795) 1 Troy Ounce Fine Gold = Fr 3,680.
(9/1/1795) 1 Troy Ounce Fine Gold = Fr 4,800.
(11/1/1795) 1 Troy Ounce Fine Gold = Fr 10,400.
(12/1/1795) 1 Troy Ounce Fine Gold = Fr 12,200.
(2/15/1796) 1 Troy Ounce Fine Gold = Fr 28,800.

1 Troy Ounce Coined Gold (US Mint) = USD$ 19.39

Paper-money inflation in France: how it came, what it bought, and how it ... By Andrew Dickson White (1876) p.22

 
c.1795?

1786

It's not known if or at what price the priest actually sold his platina ore in Cadiz. Given the standard trans-Atlantic markup in 1806 was 100%, port-to-port, for commodities from Terra Firma.   

 Where 1 Onza = 0.9246 Ozt, the alleged Pt Price seems impossibly high, higher than Gold:

1786: 1 Ozt platina (Hypo. Lima Spot, 70%) ~ S$ 8.65
1786: 1 Troy Ounce platina (Cadiz Ask, 70%) = S$ 17.30
1786: 1 Ozt. Pt (Cadiz Ask, .999) = S$ 24.72
1786: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Cadiz: Refining Cost) = S$
1786: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Hypo. Spanish Platinum, First Cost) = S$ 
 
Presuming error, alternative Cadiz Ask Prices might be  
a) '16 Reales de Plata per Onza'  
b) '16 Reales de Velon per Onza' 
 
or 1 Onza/ S$8.50 = 0.9246 Ozt,
1786: 1 Ozt platina (Hypo. Lima Spot, 70%) ~ S$ 0.540774
1786: 1 Troy Ounce platina (Cadiz Ask, 70%) = S$ 1.081549


1789:

1. In 1786, the chaplain of the "Achiles" a registered ship from Lima, brought to Cadiz about 1,000 onzas of platina, which he tried to sell at 16 pesos per onza; the chaplain returned to Lima in the same registry and probably with his platina because the price was not really cheap.




See Prof. Luis Fermin Capitán Vallvey's 'The Transport of Platina to Spain in the Late Eighteenth Century' in Platinum Metals Rev., 1999, 43, (1), 31: 

"Only two official shipments were sent from the Kingdom of Peru, and although there were others they are more difficult to identify because of their clandestine nature. Known examples include the one thousand onzas of platina that the chaplain attempted to sell to the El Achiles Register in 1786, and the four boxes of platina sent by Roque Aguado but seized on the instructions of Minister Valdês when they were put on sale in 1787."

Donald McDonald : "About 150 libras of native metal were shipped to Spain, this time the miners being paid two or three reales per libra. Further shipments necessitated the price being raised to four reales per libra"

1786: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Colombian Spot) = S$ 0.0169 - S$ 0.0254

1786: Don Fausto describes Chabaneau refining cost of Platinum, per libra (14.792 Ozt)

"We estimate that the expenses would be less than 4 pesetas (8 reales or 1 Spanish Dollar) per libra and we believe that the metal will find a ready market at a much higher price than that of Silver"

1786: 1 Troy Oz. Pt Refining Cost (Est. Madrid Cost) ~ S$ 0.0676

Cited by LF Capitan Vallvey  in "Export and Smuggling of Spanish Platina"in Annals of Science p. 477:
 

1786: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Paris mkt)= L.T. 5.08 - 6.09 (£ 0.2258 - 0.2707)


1/3/1786: Thomas Jefferson, Paris

1789

DSQ



c.1795: ~"8 Reales/Onza" = 128 Reales/Libra = S$ 16. at Cartegena
At the Spanish Onza (0.9243 Ozt), 8 Reales = S$ 1.00 x 16,000 Onza = S$ 16,000.
∴ 128,000 Reales = L.T. 61,200, so 1 Paris Marc cost L.T. 40.70; S$ 8.513

1789: In a 13 Dec 1789 letter to Sir Joseph Banks, the manufactured cost of Platinum (perhaps Sponge) is quoted

"Here I sell an Once of Platinum for 30 Livres Tournois..."  @ L.T. 23.214/£ 1.

Where 1 Paris Once = L.T. 30., 
1 Paris Marc unmanufactured Platinum cost L.T. 240. 
1 Paris Livre unmanufactured Platinum cost L.T. 480.
1 Kilogram unmanufactured Platinum cost L.T. 980.58
1 Spanish Libra unmanufactured Platinum cost L.T. 451.09


London 1789: £1 = 22 Livres Tournois, 16 Sous = L.T. 22.80 and where 1 old Louis d'or (24.025 L.T) = 5.778 Grams; 1 Once = 0.98450520 Ozt, and where the Livre was 0.14 Ozt Fine Ag @ £ 0.04167: L.T. 7.142857 per English Ounce Troy,


1788: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Chocó, legal rate to miners) ~ L.T.
 
1789: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Producer, Bulk) = L.T. 30.47216 (avg. £1.269) 
1789: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Producer's Ingot, Bulk) = £1.316

1789: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Paris: Sponge, Bulk) = US $ 5.3417; £ 1.203

1789: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Producer's Ingot, Bulk) = £1.1607 ; USD$5.55
Paris, 1789: £1 = 24 L.T., or Ecu (L.T. 6) = £ 0.25; L.T. 5 = £ 0.2083


1789: ore very expensive in London.








 
30 L.T. per Once is 4.273 Ozt Fine Ag/Ozt., at the bullion-rate:

1789: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Paris: Sponge, Bulk) = US $ 5.46; £ 1.23

1789: 1 Troy Ounce Silver (French Coin) = £ 0.29762

 

1788

27,072 Rs. 

Citation: "The Transport of Platina to Spain in the Late Eighteenth Century" Professor Luis Fermin Capitin Vallvey, PMR (1990) Vol. 43 (1) 31-40

In the “Note of expenses incurred in founding the Royal Platina Plant” payment is recorded of “twenty-seven thousand seventy-two reales which on August 9th, 1788 were released to the proxy representing Bernardo Roca, resident of Guayaquil in payment for 423 libras of platina”(26). This amounts to a price of 64 reales per libra before expenses, but if Bernardo Roca had sold the platina in Lima he could have received double the amount of money!




1788: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Chocó, legal rate to miners) ~ S$ 0.1352
1788: 1 Troy Oz. platina (est. Cartagena mkt) ~ S$ 0.27?

c.1792?: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Cartagena High) ~ S$ 0.81112

There must have been a black market price for the ideal 'fake Gold' metal.


Citation: Étude sur les mines d'or et d'argent de la Colombie; Vicente Restrepo (1908; 1891) p.51

 




July 18, 1789: Experiments from 1788/9







Haiti/France? prices:



Where Bordeaux Livre weighed 0.416139793 Kg, 

Bordeaux, France (1789): 1 Kg. Coffee = L.T. 2.553 - 2.703 (£ 0.0882 - 0.0934)
 
 



Coffee price, retail: £0.0500/cup



Madrid prices: 1 Kilogram Coffee (retail) = £0.0771





At La Guira (1789), Coffee cost S$ 18 the quintal (~46.0 Kgs), superior in a third to that of the Cocoa (S$ 13.5 the fanega/~50.613 Kgs) 

La Guira, New Spain (1789): 1 Kg. Coffee = S$ 0.3913; 1 Kg. Cocoa = S$ 0.26673

1787

1787: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Colombian Spot) = S$ 0.0338

1787: 1 Troy Ounce platina (Spain: off-mkt?) = S$ 0.54091 (~£0.1217)
1787: 1 Troy Oz. platina (Peru: mkt) ~ S$ 1.08 (~£0.2434)


1787: Platinum Chalice, Labor Cost (~63.25 Ozt) S$ 1,277.50

1787: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Labor?) = S$ 20.207
1787: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (Labor?) = S$ 29.658

The skilled silversmith that made this cup is called D. Francisco Alonso. 10,220 was given by the work of actual chalice and paten with his spoon and a box to keep these parts. His Holiness was pleased with a brief on the various indulgences granted and a curious reliquary with True Cross. At the same silversmith was paid 15,000 reals for styling another chalice, paten and spoon also.

King Carlos III presented a platinum chalice to Pope Pius VI:  that chalice weighed 55.45 English Troy Ounces. The paten 6.27 ozt.; the spoon of unknown weight (~ 1.5 Ozt?)

1787-9:




Luis Fermin Capitin Vallvey (The Transport of Platina to Spain in the Late Eighteenth Century) mentions Casa de Platina payment for one odd lot, higher than typical Crown expense but half the South American market-rate in Peru.  As a commodity with poor demand and limited utility, platina was still worth less than Silver in Spanish ports.

Where Rs. 27,072 = S$ 3,384 and 423 Libras ~ 6,256.2 Ozt, or @ S$ 8./Libra

"This platina arrived on December 7th, 1787, and payment was made eight months later. In the “Note of expenses incurred in founding the Royal Platina Plant” payment is recorded of “twenty-seven thousand seventy-two Reals which on August 9th, 1788 were released to the proxy representing Bernardo Roca, resident of Guayaquil in payment for 423 Libras of platina” (26). This amounts to a price of 64 Reales per Libra before expenses, but if Bernardo Roca had sold the platina in Lima he could have received double the amount of money!"

	Year of				Port of
Shipment	arrival	Amount	Kgs	Ship	arrival
1	1767	1 @ 22 Libra	21.62	-	Cadiz
2	1784	12,937 Castellano	59.51	-	Cadiz
3	1787	1 @17 Li	19.32	-	-
4	1787	6 @ 4 Li, 8 Onza	70.94	-	-
5	1787	69 Li 14 On	32.14	F. El Pajaro	Cadiz
6	1787	16 @ 23 Li	194.58	F. La Posta de America	Cadiz
7	1789	122 @ 15 Li 9 On	1310.16	-	-
8	1790	4543 Ca	20.9	B. El Farnoso Sevillano	-
9	1791	45 @ 6 Li	520.26	F. El Riojano	Cadiz
10	1791	962 Ca	4.42	F. El Riojano	Cadiz
11	1791	100 Li 14 On	46.4	P. N. S. Carmen	Cadiz
12	1795	146 Li 9 On	67.3	V. San Carlos	Cadiz
13	1802	2267 Ca 112 Tom.	10.43	F. Sta. Sabina	Cadiz
14	1802	95 314 Li	44.04	F. Sta. Sabina	Cadiz
15	1802	493 Li 9 On	227.04	F. Flor del Paraiso	Cadiz
16	1803	22 Li	10.12	F. Sta. Sabina	Vigo
17	1804	11@- 171b15o 7 0	134.54	B. El Serrano	Cadiz
18	1805	1141b 1 4 0 ~ 5 0 ~	52.77	-	Corunna

"A substantially different figure for the total amount of platina sent to Madrid has been reported by Chaston (18). He suggested that the quantity of crude platina which arrived in Madrid between 1786 and 1808 may have averaged 14,000 to 18,000 Troy oz per year - adding up to perhaps one-third of a million ounces (9560 to 12,320 kg) over the twenty-two year period. This amount is significantly larger than that reported here, although it must be acknowledged that smuggling could account for at least some of the difference between Chaston’s figure and my account of legal commerce."

Chaston (1980) vastly over-estimated the production of refined Platinum in Europe - in fact, crude platina (at 70% purity) landed in Europe would have been that much higher, ~622 - 801 kgs per year.  The total platina export of 1804, however, is well within that range.

"The quantity of malleable platinum turned out over the 22 years mayhave averaged 14,000 to 18,000 oz Troy per year-say one third of a million ounces in all."

A more reasonable estimate follows : the Spanish Mints likely gathered an average of 50-100 kgs of platina per year and European contraband traders 2 -4x that amount: a high estimate of the total platina exported was closer to 85 - 200 kgs, annually.   Broadly speaking, the production and price of platina should simply have followed Gold, by years and seasons and trade access to Carthagena.

The 1788 price paid is identical to the insupportable high (specimen) "spot-price" cited by von Humboldt in 1801, although we might assume the price at Carthagena (as at Lima) was typically double the Source-Spot.  In Choco, bulk spot-prices to contraband traders were conceivably a third higher than the government price, most of the time.



1787:

USA, 1926

Of all the platinum metals used in the United States in 1926, 6.32% was used by the chemical industries; 12.87% by the electrical industries; 11.51% by the dental manufacturers; 56.54% went into jewelry; and 12.7670 was distributed over miscellaneous fields.