# When was platinite discovered?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-platinite-discovered/975718
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 29, 2022, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-platinite-discovered/975718 "2022-11-29T03:03:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-platinite-discovered/975718/1 "2022-11-29T03:03:20Z")
Platinite is an alloy of roughly 55-45 iron and nickel. It was used to replace platinum in early light bulbs as a conductor that had the same coefficient of expansion as glass to convey power to the filaments. My father recalled that light bulbs were expensive, but the electric company would replace them free (or maybe very cheaply) if you brought the old ones back so they could recover the platinum. I wanted to find out when this happened. Just google it, you say? I could not disgorge this information from google. There are dictionary definitions, but no wiki page I could find on the subject.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-platinite-discovered/975718/2 "2022-11-29T05:28:38Z")
1897, according to [its discoverer’s obit](https://www.birpublications.org/doi/10.1259/0007-1285-11-129-598). His own [Nobel lecture](https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/guillaume-lecture.pdf) is less specific.
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### Author:  [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-platinite-discovered/975718/3 "2022-11-29T06:30:33Z")
1897 seems right. He published a paper in 1898.
Also there is an article describing platinite in 1905. [28 Jan 1905 - A NEW ALLOY. - Trove](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14711499?searchTerm=platinite)
platinite is also called red platinum.
see [30 Jun 1929 - RED PLATINUM - Trove](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/97696452?searchTerm=platinum%20nickel%20lamp)
Now we know why sections of the conductors in light bulbs are red ! Due to the oxidisation problem described in the 1905 article, its given a longer life by coating it in copper.
> **[RED PLATINUM - Sunday Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1926 - 1954) - 30 Jun 1929](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/97696452?searchTerm=platinum%20nickel%20lamp)**
>
> Most listeners will argue that valves still rest too much, lint it is certain that they would cost still more were it not for the discovery of red platinum. ...
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### Author:  [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-platinite-discovered/975718/4 "2022-11-29T06:40:05Z")
WW1 perhaps created a demand for platinum , it might have been a policy during WW1 to replace platinum containing light bulbs with platinum free light bulbs.
see [The Pressure of Shortage: Platinum Policy and the Wilson Administration During World War I | Business History Review | Cambridge Core](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-history-review/article/abs/pressure-of-shortage-platinum-policy-and-the-wilson-administration-during-world-war-i/29A6B20CC29865A2CCF4EA0D94D5C6D8#access-block)