Platina

Description

1) An impure form of native platinum. The name platina is Spanish for small silver. Platinum deposits were named platina del Pinto when they were discovered in Columbia in the 16th century.

2) An white metal alloy composed of zinc (75%) and copper (25%) that was used for inexpensive jewelry and buttons. It was also called Birmingham platina and white brass.

Synonyms and Related Terms

1: platina del Pinto 2: Birmingham platina; white brass; Weimessing (Deut.), Platin (older meaning!) (Deut.); platina (Port.)

Authority

• G.S.Brady, G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 870

• R.D. Harley, R.D. Harley, Artists' Pigments c. 1600-1835, Butterworth Scientific, London, 1982

• Random House, Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• A History of Technology, Charles Singer, E.J. Holmyard, A.R. Hall (eds.), Clarendon Press, Oxford, Volume 1: From Early times to Fall of Ancient Empires, 1954

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998