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Auction: 16018 - Bonds and Share Certificates of the World
Lot: 951

Spanish 5% Perpetual Loan, 1836, bond for £200, with equivalent values in French, Spanish and Dutch currency, signed by Gabriel-Julien Ouvrard as Contractor, ornate scrollwork at left, coupons at right, black. Loan issued to aid Charles V during the Carlist Wars in his bid to acquire the throne of Spain. Gabriel-Julien Ouvrard, 1770-1846, merchant and financier. Considered as one the biggest and shrewdest speculators in history. He won and lost a vast fortune on multiple occaisons during the turbulent times between the French revolution and Restoration. He first made a fortune through colonial trade and supplying the French Navy, the Spanish fleet and the French army in Italy. In exchange for a cash advance, he received valid obligations including monthly subsidies that Spain had to pay to France in implementing the Treaty of 22 June 1803 and in 1804. He even obtained from Spain its monopoly of trade with Spanish America. In 1809, he was imprisoned for unpaid debt and was released three months later. Believing that only peace could bring maritime economic growth, he tried to negotiate a secret peace with England with the support of Louis Bonaparte and Joseph Fouché, which earned him three years in prison. Ouvrard again played a large role in the economic recovery of France after the fall of the Empire. In 1816, he advised the Prime Minister of Louis XVIII, on a 100 million pension that filled the coffers of the state. His biggest downfall was in 1823, when he financed a further French invasion of Spain. He was never reimbursed, but placed in bankruptcy and later imprisoned for corruption. Again, he lost his entire fortune. Gabriel-Julien Ouvrard died in London in 1846. Very fine.

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