History
Naturally occurring platinum and platinum rich alloys have been
known about for centuries. Though the metal was used by pre-
Columbian Native Americans (Aztec, Mayan, Inca, Moche, Chibcha,
and Canaras), the first European reference to platinum appears in
1557 in the writings of the Italian humanist Julius Caesar Scaliger
(1484–1558) as a description of a mysterious metal found in Central
American mines between Darién (Panama) and Mexico (“up until
now impossible to melt by any of the Spanish arts”). The word
platinum comes from the Spanish word platina, meaning “little
silver.”
Platinum was discussed by astronomers Antonio de Ulloa and Don
Jorge Juan y Santacilia (1713–1773), both appointed by King Philip V
to join a geographical expedition in Peru that lasted from 1735 to
1745. Amongst other things, Ulloa observed the platina del pinto,
the unworkable metal found with gold. British privateers intercepted
Ulloa’s ship on the return voyage. Though he was well treated in
England, and even made a member …
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