South Sea Company Signed Sale of Stock 1721 With Coat of Arms Vignette

SOUTH SEA COMPANY. Partially Printed Document Signed, “Jon. Hanway”, 1p, March 14, 1721, 9.5” x 14.5”. Countersigned, “Garton Orme / Bedford”, as witness. Lovely vignette of the South Sea Company Coats of Arms at top. Paper covered red wax seal. Three embossed six penny stamps at top left. Flattened folds with minor separation and paper loss, soiling, foxing, toning, mounting remnants to verso, else Very Good for its age.

This power of attorney granted by Jonas Hanway authorizes Robert Pell “To sell Assigne and Transfer unto any Person or Persons whatsoever – And for any Consideration Sum or Sums of Money whatsoever Three hundred pounds or any part thereof”.

The South Sea Company was a British joint-stock company founded in January 1711. It was created as a public-private partnership to consolidate and reduce the cost of the national debt. In 1713, to generate income, the company was granted a monopoly to supply African slaves to the islands in the South Seas and South America. When the company was created, Britain was involved in the War of the Spanish Succession, and Spain and Portugal controlled most of South America. There was no realistic prospect that trade would take place, and as a result, the Company never realized any significant profit from its monopoly. However, company stock rose greatly in value as it expanded its operations dealing in government debt, peaking in 1720 before collapsing to little above its original flotation price. The notorious economic bubble this created, which ruined thousands of investors, became known as the South Sea Bubble, one of the great financial disasters of all time.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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