The Revolutionary Beginning of the American Stock Market

$21.74

"Nobody can explain financial history like Ned Downing. His scholarship is top-flight, his writing is fast and readable, and he really knows his stuff. Read it, learn and enjoy." - William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of City of Dreams

The Revolutionary Beginning of the American Stock Market is a beautifully illustrated 80-page book published by the Museum of American Finance on the story of the beginning of the equity side of the American capital markets. Written by Ned Downing, a former Wall Street executive and long-time collector of documents from early American financial and business history, the book emphasizes the critical role played by the first IPO (initial public offering) of an American corporation, The Bank of North America, which foreshadowed the country’s more than two century leadership role in capital formation. The book places the 1781 Bank of North America IPO and the beginning of the American stock market into its Revolutionary War context and interprets the only known stock certificate from that offering.

Many of the country’s most important 18th century financial documents, some of which are owned by Downing and featured in the book, will be displayed in “America’s First IPO,” an exhibit at the Museum of American Finance running from September 15, 2010 through March 2011.

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