To John Quincy Adams on "The Dutch Debt." - photo 1
To John Quincy Adams on "The Dutch Debt." - photo 2
To John Quincy Adams on "The Dutch Debt." - photo 3

To John Quincy Adams on "The Dutch Debt."

Lot 142
25.04.2022 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
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$ 12 600
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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Archive
ID 743802
Lot 142 | To John Quincy Adams on "The Dutch Debt."
Estimate value
$ 8 000 – 12 000
HAMILTON, Alexander (c.1757-1804). Letter signed as Secretary of the Treasury to John Quincy Adams, "Treasury Department," [Philadelphia], 25 January 1795. One page, bifolium, 257 x 203mm. (Several toned spots, affixed to mat at margins.) Framed with integral address panel and docketing visible in rear.Less than a week before he resigned as Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton moves to begin repayment of "The Dutch Debt." He informs Adams that "The inclosed copy of a letter of this date [not present] to Messrs Wilhem & Jan Willink &c will inform you of an arrangement which has been made for the payment of a sum of Principal an interest of the Dutch Debt which will accrue on the first of June next…" After listing the amount of principal (1 million florins) and interest (270,000 florins), Hamilton notes that he has asked "them to concert with you the best arrangement of the matter," and adds, "If you find it expedient to recur to a postponement of the installment by a new Loan, you will please to take with our Commissioners the proper arrangement for the purpose." It was the elder Adams who as the first U.S. Minister to the Netherlands had secured the first round of financing from a consortium of Dutch bankers in 1782, providing a critical lifeline for the young republic. It would be Hamilton who would work to help secure American credit in his role as Secretary of the Treasury. Published in The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, Vol. XVIII: January–July 1795, p. 192. Additional copies of this letter exist, including an ALS in the Adams Family Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society and Hamilton's draft, which is part of the collections at the Connecticut Historical Society.
Place of origin:USA
Auction house category:Letters, documents and manuscripts
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