USA, 1892: Metal Prices

Jan. 1892: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (NYC: Mkt, Bulk)= USD$ 10.50
Mar. 1892: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (NYC: Mkt, Bulk)= USD$ 9.





In April 1892, George Woodside's 1814 Half-Dollar was sold for $21., about 3x the contemporary Intrinsic Value.

It was sold for USD$ 138,000. on 8/12/2011. The 2011 sale represents a numismatic premium of 7,961% over the Intrinsic Spot (Pt @ USD$ 1,800; Ag @ USD$ 38.29 = $ 1,712) or ~ 6,763% over the analogous US PM retail from the US mint for 95% Pt/5% Ag Coin Per Ozt, mid-August 2011.

1891/2: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Coin, Numismatic)= USD$ 30.87

1891/2: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Canadian ore)= USD$ 5.50

c. March 1892




The Silver Price is the 1892 Price, in a decade when Silver was falling.

1892: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Mkt.)= USD$ 10.29
1892: 1 Troy Oz. Osmium (Mkt.) = USD$ 20.58
1892: 1 Troy Oz. Palladium (Mk.) = USD$ 46.64
1892: 1 Troy Oz. Ruthenium (mkt.) = USD$ 171.47
1892: 1 Troy Oz. Rhodium (Mkt.) = USD$ 171.47 

Citation: Chemists ̓pocket-book of ready reference ... (1892) p.96

 

These lists circulated, became out-of-date, lacked any reference beyond hearsay, and therefore offer little certain accuracy.

c.1892:

US, 1898: Metal Prices

ref

1898: 1 Troy Ounce Palladium (wholesale, refined) = USD$ 23.67

Citation: The West-American scientist, Volumes 8-13 (1901) p.23

UK, 1902: Platinoid Metals Prices

c.1901: 1 Troy Ounce Palladium > £ 9. (USD$ )

Citation: Dental metallurgy; a manual for students and dentists ; Arthur Bower Griffiths (1903) p.174

c.1902: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum = £ 4.75 (USD$ 23.13)
c.1902: 1 Troy Oz. Palladium = £ 9.75 (USD$ 47.48)

c.1902: 1 Troy Oz. Osmium = £ 10. (USD$ 48.70)

c.1902: 1 Troy Oz. Iridium = £ 12.50 (USD$ 60.88)
c.1902: 1 Troy Oz. Rhodium = £ 20. (USD$ 97.40)
c.1902: 1 Troy Oz. Ruthenium = £ 22.50 (USD$ 109.58)

Citation: Chambers's Journal (1903) p.153

1901: Chloride salt was half the Platinum price.

USA, 1904: Catalogue w/o Prices (Bausch & Lomb)

Platinum crucible prices in 1905 were cited as the highest in recent years, @$25./oz. It's likely the price charged per ounce, here.

1902: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (ingot, 85%, market) = USD$ 19.

1903: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (ingot, 85%, market) = USD$ 19.

1905: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (refined, manufactured, retail) = USD$ 24.90

Citation: Apparatus & supplies for chemical & biological laboratories: 1904. [Catalog F] By Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, p.318

1904:

1904: 1 Troy Ounce platina (US/Cdn ore) = USD$ 12. - 15.

1904: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (semi-refined, whols) = USD$ 18.50









1904: 1 Troy Ounce platina (Russian ore, Spot) = USD$ 15.09

Citation: Bulletin of the Pan American Union, Vol. 45 (1917) p.618

USA, 1873/1875/1900: Metal Prices, Compared

Given the well-known price of silver was falling sharply, with strong likelihood that Silver the most accurate quotation,  a stated silver price of $1.29 a troy ounce specifies 1873.  (Some other metals price data might be somewhat earlier, not later.)

These types of estimations are broad, inexact and not market prices. For example, at the same time, Johnson, Matthey & Co's 1873 Vienna Catalogue cited Ruthenium for 3x as much.

c.1873: 1 Troy Ounce of Ruthenium = $96.

c.1873: 1 Troy Ounce of Rhodium = $ 48.

c.1873: 1 Troy Ounce of Palladium = $ 44.79

c.1873: 1 Troy Ounce of Osmium= $ 22.30

c.1873: 1 Troy Ounce of Platinum = $ 7.90 

Citation: Catechism of money: a hand-book on finance, in the interest of honest money ...By Joseph P. Root (1876) p.236


This list was published in 1875 from earlier sources and with dubious forex, perhaps 1871/2?

Citation: The chemist's manual: a practical treatise on chemistry, qualitative and ...  By Henry Augustus Mott

Circa 1875:

1875: 1 Troy Ounce of Ruthenium = $89.50

1875: 1 Troy Ounce of Rhodium = $ 70.84

1875: 1 Troy Ounce of Palladium = $ 34.18

1875: 1 Troy Ounce of Osmium= $ 44.74

1875: 1 Troy Ounce of Platinum = $ 8.39

Citation:  The universal assistant, and complete mechanic: containing over one million ...  By Richard Moore (1882) p.123

In the last quarter of the 19th C., the cost of importation from chemical & apparatus producers was "more than half the European price," according to contemporary US government sources.

1876:

Citation:  The universal assistant, and complete mechanic: containing over one million ...  By Richard Moore (1882) p.123

Circa 1883: The spot price for Silver was $1.12, nowhere near the $1.37 suggested.  Presumably, these are retail prices!

1883: 1 Troy Ounce of Ruthenium = $ 164.61

1883: 1 Troy Ounce of Rhodium = $157.75

1883: 1 Troy Ounce of Palladium = $96.

1883: 1 Troy Ounce of Osmium= $ 89.16

1883: 1 Troy Ounce of Platinum = $ 10.29

Citation:  J.A. Berly's universal electrical directory and advertiser By Jules Albert Berly (1884), p.5





Circa 1900:

1900: 1 Troy Ounce of Ruthenium = $ 102.88

1900: 1 Troy Ounce of Rhodium = $68.59

1900: 1 Troy Ounce of Palladium = $41.15

1900: 1 Troy Ounce of Osmium= $ 0.82

1900: 1 Troy Ounce of Platinum = $ 17.50

UK, 1885: Palladium

Oertling's Weights, if charged without duty to the International Commission, would have cost ~34s then tariffed £ 0.273 entering France.

1885: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (France: UK Mfg, Imp.) ~ £ 1.7304 (Fr. 43.69)

1885: 1 Troy Oz. Platinum (UK: London Mfg) ~£ 1.70 (Fr. 43.)  

Where 1.25 Ozt, a second-hand crucible could be sold for more than scrap.

If Platinum Foil 1" x 2" 2 Sq. In. = 15 Troy Grains,

1885: 1 Troy Ounce Platinum (Semi-Mfg, Ret.) ~ £ 1.60 (USD$ 7.79)
1885: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Mfg* 2nd Class) = £ 1.35 (USD$ 6.57)
1885: 1 Ozt. Platinum (Presumed; Scrap) ~ £ 1.20 (USD$ 5.84) 

August, 1885

Citation: Amateur work, illustrated Vol. 4 (1885) p.94

 

Citation: Amateur work, illustrated (1885) p.504

Citation: Amateur work, illustrated Vol. 4 (1885) p.553

From an 1887 ms., this vague allusion to price is dubious.

c.1885 (?): 1 Ozt. Platinum (Semi-mfg?, Retail ) = £ 1.50 (USD$ 7.30)
 
  


For dental fillings, Palladium was less than half the price of Gold by volume.


1868: 1 Ozt. Palladium = £ 8. (USD$ 54.64)
c.1879: 1 Ozt. Palladium (refined, semi-mfg) = £ 1.30-1.40 (USD$ 6.31-7.69) 

1885/6: 1 Ozt. Palladium (Sponge) = £ 9.60 - 10. (USD$ 46.67 - 49.) 
1885/6: 1 Ozt. Palladium (Scrap) = £ 0.75 (USD$ 3.65) 
 
c.1885:

July 1886:
 

1884: 1 Troy Ounce Osmium (whols.) = £ 4.25 (USD$ 20.62)

USA, 1872: Palladium

Apparently without qualification, contemporaries mention 'English prices' for Palladium without accounting for shipping costs.   The US wholesale price for Pd was approximately 100% higher; in the USA, pure Palladium retailed nearly 10x more expensive than Platinum at this time.  

1872: 1 Troy Ounce Palladium (refined, whols.)  = USD$ 96.45

c.1872: 1 Troy Ounce Palladium (European price, or alloy) ~ USD$ 40.



c.1874: 1 Troy Ounce Palladium (refined, retail) ~ USD$ 50.

Citation: Transactions / New York Odontological Society (1874) p.33

1873: 1 Troy Oz. Palladium (producer, semi-mfg) = £ 6.3 (USD$ 35.) 

Citation: Reports of the commissioners of the United States to the ..., Vol. 2 By US Commission to the Vienna exhibition, 1873, Robert Henry Thurston, (1876) p.63


1873: 1 Troy Ounce Palladium (pure, producer bulk) = USD$ 35.
(Presumably, a 10 kg mass is referred to here.)



c.1883?: 1 Troy Ounce Palladium (pure, producer bulk) = USD$  30.

1878: 1 Troy Ounce Palladium (pure, producer bulk) = £ 4.96 (USD$  24.24)

Citation: Chemical news and journal of industrial science, Volume 37-38 (1878) p.43

A different ingot model, of 31.1 kg?  The English Price of Palladium had doubled.


1893: 1 Troy Ounce Palladium (refined, pure) = £ 7. (USD$ 34.) 

Citation: Chemical news and journal of industrial science, Volume 68 (1893) p.161


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