078 Platinum
078 Platinum
076 Osmium077 Iridium078 Platinum079 Gold080 MercuryBlankBlankBlank028 Nickel046 Palladium078 Platinum110 110
Detailed Technical Data

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Collections:
Elements in Spark Plugs
Elements at Walmart
Elements with External Samples
Samples with Rotatable Images
Samples with Sounds
078.1
SoundOne ounce bullion bar.
I purchased this bar for spurious reasons in the early 1990s from a coin dealer near Berkeley, California. I think I paid about $500 for it, and now it's worth about $550, but in the meantime it's been worth more than double that, because of the price spike caused by catalytic converters in cars. I never noticed between then and now how much the price had gone up and back down.
In April 2002 I had Brian Knox jewelers in Champaign, Illinois weld a 90%Pt/10%Ir alloy loop onto the back of it, so it could be locked down to the table with a length of stainless steel cable.
Source: Coin Shop in California
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 15 April, 2002
Price: $600/including loop
Size: 1.5"
Purity: 99.95%
078.2
Spark Plug.
People make spark plugs out of the craziest elements, like Polonium. Platinum is used because it doesn't corrode under harsh conditions.
I remember hearing, probably on NPR's Car Talk show, that platinum spark plugs last so long that by the time you need to change them, they may have fused themselves to the aluminum block they are screwed into, making it impossible to remove them without stripping the engine block. They recommended just unscrewing and rescrewing them every couple of years. Ah, such modern problems.
Here's an interesting article about different elements in spark plugs.
Source: eBay seller accurateimage@yahoo.com
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 31 July, 2002
Price: $15
Size: 3"
Purity: >90%
078.3
Spark plug.
This spark plug claims that unlike ordinary spark plugs that have a platinum alloy electrode, it has a pure platinum center electrode. It also claims to use yttrium in the ground electrodes.
Source: Auto Parts Store
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 10 January, 2003
Price: $5
Size: 3"
Purity: >90%
078.4
3DSample from the Red Green and Blue Company Element Set.
The Red Green and Blue company in England sells a very nice element collection in several versions. Max Whitby, the director of the company, very kindly donated a complete set to the periodic table table.

To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description or the company's website which includes many photographs and pricing details. I have two photographs of each sample from the set: One taken by me and one from the company. You can see photographs of all the samples displayed in a periodic table format: my pictures or their pictures. Or you can see both side-by-side with bigger pictures in numerical order.

The picture on the left was taken by me. Here is the company's version (there is some variation between sets, so the pictures sometimes show different variations of the samples):


Source: Max Whitby of The Red Green & Blue Company
Contributor: Max Whitby of The Red Green & Blue Company
Acquired: 25 January, 2003
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: 99.95%
078.5
Sample from the Everest Element Set.
Up until the early 1990's a company in Russia sold a periodic table collection with element samples. At some point their American distributor sold off the remaining stock to a man who is now selling them on eBay. The samples (excepted gasses) weight about 0.25 grams each, and the whole set comes in a very nice wooden box with a printed periodic table in the lid.

To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description and information about how to buy one, or you can see photographs of all the samples from the set displayed on my website in a periodic table layout or with bigger pictures in numerical order.

Source: Rob Accurso
Contributor: Rob Accurso
Acquired: 7 February, 2003
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: >99%
078.x1
Native platinum. (External Sample)
Natural platinum nugget.
Location: The Harvard Museum of Natural History
Photographed: 2 October, 2002
Size: 1
Purity: >90%