Bill of exchange number 450, Curacao: Ministerie van Kolonien, 8 September 1863

2 leaves (5 1/4 x 10 3/4 in.; 130 x 270 mm) and (5 x 7 3/4 in.; 125 x 195 mm). Numerous signatures, inkstamps, seals and indorsements. minor tear at upper margin of top leaf.

 I.S. and S.A. Emmanuel, History of the Jews of the Netherlands Antilles, 1970, pp. 342, 364, 450, 803, 825.  

The Island of Curacao 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 450, was issued on the 8th of September, in Curacao, in favour of the “Widow of M. A. Jesurun,” in the amount of 1400 guilders, in exchange for the manumission of the slaves which had been held by her late husband, Moises Abraham Jesurun (d. 1853), who had served as parnas and mohelof the congregation of Mikveh Yisrael. The document is signed by the Governor of Curacao, J. D. Crol, and bears numerous manuscript indorsements, seals, and inkstamps 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 21st 1863.