Stock trade parody, card game – anonymous, 1720

“Pasquins Windkaart op de Windnegotie van ‘t Jaar 1720.“ [Pasquin’s Wind Cards on the Wind Trade of the Year 1720.] Copper engravings by an anonymous artist, 2nd state (of 2), coloured by a later hand. Complete set of 54 cards, including 2 title cards, each with a four-line Dutch verse beneath the image. Size (frame): 94 × 95 cm.

These engravings come from “Het Groote Tafereel der Dwaasheid” [The Great Mirror of Folly]. “Displaying the rise, progress, and downfall of the stock, bubble, and wind trade in France, England, and the Netherlands, perpetrated in the year 1720.” “Published by various parties, to ridicule this detestable and deceitful commerce, which in this year ruined numerous families and persons of both High and Low Estate. Printed as a warning to posterity, in that disastrous year, for many fools and wise men alike. 1720.”

The card game is a parody of the stock trade devised by John Law (1671–1729), a Scottish economist with a talent for mathematics and a brilliant card player.

Law created a system of bonds and notes for the French state and, in 1717, founded a company which, in cooperation with the state bank, exploited Louisiana. The “Compagnie d’Occident“—popularly known as the Mississippi Company—was granted a 24-year monopoly on trade between France and its Louisiana colony. The initial share issue of the Mississippi Company was not very successful.

Law launched a campaign with glowing travel reports and pamphlets about Louisiana. The French public was stirred up with tales of mountains of gold and precious stones waiting to be gathered in the colony. As a result, interest in shares of the new company grew rapidly, sparking a speculative frenzy in Paris. Because stock prices rose, Law was able to issue ever more shares of the Mississippi Company, which were paid for with government bonds. These bonds were destroyed by the Company—while bondholders received 4% annual interest as compensation. Thus, the (real) French national debt was converted into (imaginary) future profits. The public now rushed en masse to buy both new and existing shares. The stock price soared from 500 to 5,000 livres apiece. Chaotic scenes unfolded in Paris.

The speculative mania soon spiraled out of control. Too much paper money was in circulation, prices collapsed, and the illusion of financial recovery evaporated. Many foreign investors exchanged their shares for silver, leaving behind worthless paper. The exodus of profit-takers abandoning the sinking ship, combined with rampant inflation, led to sharp price increases. A few had grown rich from speculation, but many were ruined. John Law died impoverished of pneumonia.

Literature:

• Frederik Muller “Nederlandsche historieplaten” (1863-1882), nr. 3600
• Catherine Perry Hargrave, “A history of playing cards” (1966), pp. 164-165

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