 John Law. Credit Is As Dead As A Rat, 1701. B.115, var; B.XXVI. Unsigned. Silver. 26.2 mm. 109.8 gns. Obverse: A man dead on the ground his wallet of now worthless letters of credit lying beside him inscribed WEXEL|BRIEFE. Reverse: An empty suit of clothes seen from behind with date 1701 on the waist. Very Fine. Silver gray toning with some iridescence. The types and legends refer to a drying up of credit and some sort of replacement fraud (''Now You See It, Now You Don't'') and contingent mass bankruptcy but not necessarily the collapse of Law's Mississippi scheme. Benjamin Betts XXV, XXVI and XXVIII are dated 1701 on the suit belt, BB.XXVII is dated 1702, BB.XXXI (to follow) shares an obverse type like that of the other Mausse-todt numbers and is dated 1707 on the reverse and the mule to follow (BB.XXVIII) has double dates of 1701 and 1736. It seems to the cataloguer that none of these belong here since their types are generic and their dates are off. Benjamin Betts included them on the strength of prior authority but recognized their vulnerability. Their occasion may be looked for earlier in history.
Ex Henry Christensen's sale of September 20, 1967, lot 291.
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