Amsterdam as the cradle of modern futures and options trading ...

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Figure 3. Annual dividend payments and monthly share prices of the VOC (1602-1675) Sources 113 140 560 120 480 100 400 80 320 60 240 40 160 20 80 0 1602 1607 1612 1617 1622 1627 1632 1637 18 1642 1647 1652 1657 1662 1667 1672 0
Captions Pic 1 The Rokin side of the Amsterdam exchange (1611). Modelled on the London Royal Exchange, this building consisted of an open courtyard surrounded by a colonnaded archway to provide shelter against the weather. Shops lined the two entries, some of them selling stationery such as printed forms and contracts. (Collection authors) Pic 2 A printed forward contract for a share in the Dutch West Indian Company worth 500 pounds Flemish at 178.5% (1629), to be settled in a year’s time. Standard forward contracts became common around 1610, but this is the first known printed specimen. The buyer did not fulfill his obligation, so the contract ended up in the notarial records when the seller tried to get compensation. (Amsterdam City Archives) Pic 3 A printed forward contract for a 500 pounds sterling share in the English East India Company at 168.75%, 9 January 1736, for delivery at the next settlement date of 15 February. The shares of French and notably British joint-stock companies found a ready market in the Dutch Republic. As the surviving correspondence of his broker shows, Bevel was an active investor in Dutch and English securities. (Yale ICF) Pic 4 A handwritten contract for the future delivery of two shares in the Dutch East India Company worth 500 pound Flemish (1611). In the early years of the company’s existence merchants typically used private or notarized contracts to conclude forward transactions. (University Library Leiden) Pic 5 A handwritten future (1610), stipulating the transfer of a forward contract concluded the year before. Futures emerged in Amsterdam before forward contracts were printed. For merchants it sufficed to describe the forward traded in one of two duplicate contracts. (University Library Leyden) 19
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Page 21 and 22: 15 Cf. for example the development
Page 23 and 24: 62 Van Dillen, ‘Isaac Le Maire’
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