1720 Silver Medal Betts-114, John Law

Coin Details

Auction Record

$24,000 AU55 08-24-2023 Stack's Bowers

Description

This 1720 silver medal (Betts-114) relates to John Law and the Mississippi Bubble, one of the most spectacular financial disasters in history. John Law was a Scottish economist who persuaded the French Regent Philippe d'Orleans to establish the Banque Generale and the Compagnie des Indes (Mississippi Company), which promised fabulous wealth from France's Louisiana territory. The scheme inflated a massive speculative bubble in 1719-1720 that attracted investors from across Europe before collapsing catastrophically, ruining thousands and discrediting paper money in France for generations. Numerous satirical and commemorative medals were produced documenting the bubble and its aftermath, and the Betts catalog includes several because the Mississippi Company's supposed assets were in French colonial America. Betts-114 is one of the John Law portrait medals from this remarkable chapter of financial and colonial history.

Rarity Notes

Original 1720 silver. Mississippi Bubble / John Law subject. Collected across multiple specialties. Scarce.

Cross References

Betts-114; John Law; Mississippi Bubble 1720; Compagnie des Indes