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细节
LAW, John (1671-1729). Letter signed ('Law') to an unidentified recipient, Paris, 30 January 1720.
In French, one page, 315 x 203mm, docketed by recipient (noting receipt on 2 February). Provenance: previously in the collection of Lawrence M. Lande (1906-1998).
An order relating to the minting of coins. Law sends several copies (not present) of an order of the council of state (arrêt du conseil) of 29 December directing that the striking of 20 sols and 10 sols coins be continued in all provincial mints, in conformity with a declaration of [1]9 December 1718; and he asks the recipient to make this order public in all the towns and other public places of his département.
At the time of this letter John Law was approaching the height of his power in France, having been made controller-general of finance on 5 January, with virtually direct control over the whole revenue-raising system of France. The order which he distributes reinforces an order of 19 December 1718 concerning the minting of sixths and twelths of an écu, which were the only coins to remain in circulation after Law's suppression of gold and silver specie. Law's radical transformation of the French monetary system onto a paper money basis was perhaps his most far-sighted measure (the convertibility of the US dollar to gold was only ended in 1976) -- even if, as the following months were to show, it sowed the seeds of his own downfall. Published in John Law: The Evolution of his System, A Seventh Bibliography, ed. Lawrence M. Lande (1989), p.65, no. 177.
In French, one page, 315 x 203mm, docketed by recipient (noting receipt on 2 February). Provenance: previously in the collection of Lawrence M. Lande (1906-1998).
An order relating to the minting of coins. Law sends several copies (not present) of an order of the council of state (arrêt du conseil) of 29 December directing that the striking of 20 sols and 10 sols coins be continued in all provincial mints, in conformity with a declaration of [1]9 December 1718; and he asks the recipient to make this order public in all the towns and other public places of his département.
At the time of this letter John Law was approaching the height of his power in France, having been made controller-general of finance on 5 January, with virtually direct control over the whole revenue-raising system of France. The order which he distributes reinforces an order of 19 December 1718 concerning the minting of sixths and twelths of an écu, which were the only coins to remain in circulation after Law's suppression of gold and silver specie. Law's radical transformation of the French monetary system onto a paper money basis was perhaps his most far-sighted measure (the convertibility of the US dollar to gold was only ended in 1976) -- even if, as the following months were to show, it sowed the seeds of his own downfall. Published in John Law: The Evolution of his System, A Seventh Bibliography, ed. Lawrence M. Lande (1989), p.65, no. 177.
荣誉呈献
Robert Tyrwhitt