So You Were Born in Amsterdam in 1602 (The World's First Stock Market Explained)

In 1602 you're a housemaid in Amsterdam, in the house of a rich merchant called Dirck van Os. One August, strangers queue at his door with money: they're buying pieces of a brand-new company, the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The maid of the house, Neeltgen Cornelis, puts in 100 guilders. So do you. This is how the world's first stock market began, explained simply, with jokes, real paintings and a piggy bank named Penny. Why could anyone invest? What did you actually get for your money? Why was the first dividend paid in a spice? Who was the first activist shareholder and the first short seller, why couldn't investors get their money back, where did the profits really come from — and what would 100 guilders from 1602 have become? ⏱ Chapters 0:00 So you were born in Amsterdam, 1602 0:48 Amsterdam, 1602 1:41 The first voyages to the East Indies 2:23 Too many companies: the VOC is born 3:11 The big new idea 3:58 August 1602: the first IPO 4:46 You invest (the maid who bought a share) 5:28 The oldest share ever found 6:16 A market on a bridge, and the first exchange 7:04 The spice business 7:56 Waiting for a dividend 8:35 Isaac Le Maire, the first activist 9:11 The first short seller and the first ban 10:03 A dividend paid in mace 10:48 The money you can't get back 11:40 Who owns the company? 12:13 The price of nutmeg: Banda, 1621 13:05 The golden age 13:54 Confusion of Confusions (1688) 14:36 Your account 15:27 The long decline (1799) 16:14 Legend vs reality 17:33 3 lessons from the first stock 18:19 So… how did you do? 📚 Sources • Lodewijk Petram, "The World's First Stock Exchange" and worldsfirststockexchange.com ("The world's first IPO", "Going short in 1608", "What was the return on VOC shares?") • O. Gelderblom, A. de Jong, J. Jonker, "The Formative Years of the Modern Corporation: The Dutch East India Company VOC, 1602–1623" (ERIM / Journal of Economic History) • Westfries Archief, "The world's oldest share" (Pieter Harmensz, 1606); DutchNews (2010) • Wikipedia: Dutch East India Company; Dirck van Os; Isaac Le Maire; Shareholder rebellion; Cornelis de Houtman; Second Dutch Expedition to the East Indies; Santa Catarina (ship) • Peace Palace Library, "The capture of the Santa Catarina" (Grotius, Mare Liberum) • Beurs van Berlage, history of the Amsterdam exchange (Hendrick de Keyser) • Joseph de la Vega, "Confusion de Confusiones" (1688) • Global Anticorruption Blog, "Perishing Under Corruption" (VOC decline) • The "$7.9 trillion" valuation is presented as an internet legend: no published method 🖼 Images (public domain / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons) • Rijksmuseum: H. C. Vroom, The Return to Amsterdam of the Second Expedition (1599); A. Beeckman, The Castle of Batavia (c. 1662); the East India House (1663) • Portraits: Dirck van Os (1583); Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and Hugo Grotius (M. van Mierevelt); Jan Pieterszoon Coen (J. Waben); Cornelis de Houtman (engraving) • Amsterdam: map by Pieter Bast (1597); profile of Amsterdam (1611); the Exchange by C. J. Visscher (1612), J. Berckheyde (c. 1670) and a courtyard view (c. 1670–90) • A VOC payment receipt (1606); W. Blaeu, Moluccae Insulae (c. 1630); Pulau Run (c. 1790); Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen (nutmeg, pepper, cloves); drawing of Isaac Le Maire's gravestone Map data: Natural Earth (public domain). Characters, drawings and animation: original. This video is for education and entertainment. It is not financial advice. #StockMarket #FinancialHistory #DutchEastIndiaCompany