Bill of Exchange number 93.

(AMERICAN JUDAICA).

Ministerie van Kolonien

Curaçao

18 August 1863

Numerous signatures, ink-stamps, seals and endorsements.

The Island of Curaçao was home to a Jewish community that at its peak numbered over 2,000. When, in 1863, slavery was abolished in the Dutch colonies in the Americas, all former slave owners received compensation of 200 guilders from the Dutch government for each slave they freed. The present bill of exchange, numbered 93, was issued in favor of Mordechay Henriquez in the amount of 1400 guilders, in exchange for the manumission of slaves. The document is signed by the Governor of Curaçao, J. D. Crol, and bears numerous manuscript endorsements, seals, and ink-stamps of a variety of banking establishments (including the House of Rothschild), tracing its progress as it wended its way back to Amsterdam, where it was redeemed on November 23rd, 1863. See I.S. and S.A. Emmanuel, History of the Jews of the Netherlands Antilles (1970) pp. 342, 364, 450, 803, 825.