OOST-INDISCHE COMPAGNIE (DUTCH EAST INDIA CO)

HOORN. Aandeel van 100 Gulden - replica. black. 4-page replica on thick paper of one of the world's very first shares, issued to Dirck PieterszStraetmaker by the Dutch East India Co. (Kamer Hoorn). The original share is since many years owned by the "Stichting Vereniging voor de Effectenhandel", basically the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, since 1998 part of Euronext NV. The certificate states an instalment of 50 Guilders is paid as part of a 100 Guilders share registered in the shareholders book of the company. The V.O.C. is probably the most famous of all 17th and 18th century trading companies. It was formed after it became clear to the Dutch that their small, independent trading companies would never be able to overcome the powerful international competition in the East Indies. On March 20, 1602 a group of small Dutch companies agreed to organize the VerenigdeOostindische Compagnie (East India Company) to maintain trade agreements and to fight against the Spanish and Portuguese who had a virtual monopoly on the spice trade. As a quasi firm it was endowed with startling powers. It could maintain an army and navy and declare war as if it were a government. It was exempt from Dutch import taxes. One of the company's few limitations was that it could operate only between the Cape of Good Hope and the Straits of Magellan (the Pacific and Indian Oceans). The company soon became the dominant power in the Indonesian archipelago and ruled the entire area. The Dutch East India Company consisted of six "Kamers" (councils). These localboards operated in Amsterdam, Zealand, Rotterdam, Delft, Middelburg-Hoorn and Enkhuizen. These local boards then selected individuals to "The Collegium" or "The Seventeen Gentlemen". The "Seventeen" were the real board of directors and made all of the important decisions. The original subscription of capital consisted of 6,4 million guilders, a huge amount of money at a time when a sailor's monthly wage consisted of only 5 guilders. The original 1,143 subscribers came from all walks of life. These subscribers received a receipt for their deposits. The importance of the Dutch East India Company to the economy of the United Netherlands cannot be overstated. The company would employ over 500,000 people and build 1,500 ships over the course of its almost two-hundred-year existence. It became a major user of wood, tar, hemp and provisions, stimulating commerce at home as well as in the East indies. Investors were rewarded with fabulous dividends for many years, but in the late eighteenth century a disastrous series of wars with Great Britain from 1780 to 1783 and again in 1795 resulted in devastating losses, both commercial and territorial. By 1795 the constant wars, poor management and official corruption left the Dutch East India Company over 110 million guilders in debt. On the 31st of December, 1799, almost two hundred years after its founding, the Dutch East India Company was dissolved and all of its properties taken over by the government. This included the ruling over the Indonesian Islands which officially became the Dutch East Indies, a nationalised colony until the 1940s. The original share certificate is not only extremely rare but would also be unaffordable for most collectors. Hence this well-printed replica is a good alternative. It was produced by the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and comes with a typed transcript of the text on the share, both in Dutch and English.

Condition: EF