The 11–32 tonnes of platinum, raw and in coins, that had accumulated at the St. Petersburg Mint by 1846 was sold to the British firm Johnson, Matthey & Co. This sale made Britain a platinum monopolist even though it did not produce platinum domestically Russia and Colombia were the only major platinum producers. Other possible reasons for discontinuing the platinum mint were low popularity among the population and the high cost of minting, which was 98 kopeks per 3-ruble coin as compared to less than 1 kopek per gold ruble.