The History of Platinum
The Casket of Thebes
Platinum has been found in objects as far back as 700BC. In was a coating on the Casket of Thebes, an Egyptian sarcophagus. Those who first used platinum thought it was silver or underdeveloped gold. The first European to mention platinum in a written document was actually not credited with discovering the element. The man was Julius Caesar Scaliger. In 1557 he saw natives in Central America using platinum to create jewelry. The name platinum originates from the Spanish word platina, meaning "little silver." This was the name the natives gave to the metal. The word was supposed to be derogatory, because those who first found it did not want it. It got in the way of mining for gold. It was also a nuisance, since their fires could not melt it.
The man who is credited with the discovery of platinum is the Spanish naval officer Antonio de Ulloa. He and Don Jorge y Santacilia travelled through Columbia and Peru in 1735. They found mines with the whitish metal nuggets and took them home to Spain. Antonio de Ulloa established the first mineralogy lab in Spain and was the first to systematically study platinum, wihch was in 1748.
Charles Wood of Great Britain isolated platinum in 1741 by dissolving it in aqua regia.
Platinum was established as an element by 1774.
In the 18th Century WIlliam Hyde Wollaston dubbed platinum as a "noble metal," meaning that it formed compounds very reluctantly, did not tarnish, and did not rust. In the 19th century Johann Wolfgang Döberreiner discovered that platinum could be used as a catalyst. he fired hydrogen at platinum. The hydrogen would burst into flame, but the platinum would not be consumed.
Columbia was the first source for platinum. It was next found in Russia. Counterfeiters in Russia plated platinum coins with gold and passed them around. Russia soon issued legal platinum coins. The price of platinum rose higher than the price of gold, and both coins stopped being made. Platinum was found in Canada in 1888 in Sudbury's copper and nickel mines. It was next found in South Africa's Bushveld Igneous Complex in the form of nuggets in streams. This is now the source of 75% of the world's platinum.
The man who is credited with the discovery of platinum is the Spanish naval officer Antonio de Ulloa. He and Don Jorge y Santacilia travelled through Columbia and Peru in 1735. They found mines with the whitish metal nuggets and took them home to Spain. Antonio de Ulloa established the first mineralogy lab in Spain and was the first to systematically study platinum, wihch was in 1748.
Charles Wood of Great Britain isolated platinum in 1741 by dissolving it in aqua regia.
Platinum was established as an element by 1774.
In the 18th Century WIlliam Hyde Wollaston dubbed platinum as a "noble metal," meaning that it formed compounds very reluctantly, did not tarnish, and did not rust. In the 19th century Johann Wolfgang Döberreiner discovered that platinum could be used as a catalyst. he fired hydrogen at platinum. The hydrogen would burst into flame, but the platinum would not be consumed.
Columbia was the first source for platinum. It was next found in Russia. Counterfeiters in Russia plated platinum coins with gold and passed them around. Russia soon issued legal platinum coins. The price of platinum rose higher than the price of gold, and both coins stopped being made. Platinum was found in Canada in 1888 in Sudbury's copper and nickel mines. It was next found in South Africa's Bushveld Igneous Complex in the form of nuggets in streams. This is now the source of 75% of the world's platinum.