The Spanish Monopoly of Platina

The discovery of platina towards the middle of the eighteenth century in alluvial gravels worked for gold in the Spanish South American viceroyalty of New Granada, and the interest which this new metal aroused among European scientists as its presence became known, eventually induced the authorities to recognise the situation and then to take action to control it by means of a royal monopoly. Here, in the first of this two-part paper, governmental action is related to European discoveries up until the time when the usefulness of platina was firmly established.