This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/28/2023
Scarce and important document regarding the Louisiana Purchase, the territorial acquisition by the United States that nearly doubled its land mass. Signed on 30 April 1803 between France and the United States, terms of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty stipulated that a portion of the $15 million price would be paid via acquisition of French debt owed to American citizens, primarily for recompense of seized ships. This bill of exchange authorizes payment to one of these individuals, Thomas Cutts, Jr., Captain of the merchant ship Minerva; Cutts and his father were awarded over 30,000 livres under the Treaty, according to ''The French Assault on American Shipping''. Numbered 487, document authorizes 4,000 francs to be paid to Cutts, reading in part,
''Paris 4 August 1805. Pay sixty days after sight this my second of Exchange...to the order of Thomas Cutts junior (Captain of the Minerva) (in pursuance of a liquidation by the Government of France, in this case provided by the Convention between the United-States and France, of the 30th april 1803...Four thousand francs. Per advice from the under signed Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States. / [signed] John Armstrong. / To the Treasurer of the United-States, Washington''.
Bills of exchange regarding the Louisiana Purchase are extremely rare, with ''An Illustrated History of U.S. Loans'' published in 1988 documenting only 1-3 surviving pieces. Partially-printed document measures approximately 8.5'' x 5.25'' with irregular edges. Faint creasing, fold and spot of toning near signature. Contemporary French stamp to left margin. Overall in very good to near fine condition.