Poyais fraud.- Poyaisian £1000 Three Percent Consolidated Stock, fraudulent bond issue signed by Gregor MacGregor, part of first section cut away, folds, slightly creased and browned, 430 x 370mm., 1827.
⁂ Gregor MacGregor (1786-1845), soldier and adventurer; obtained a grant of 8 million acres in the Mosquito Coast and persuaded numerous people to invest in shares in a fictitious country called Poyais. In 1822 settlers arrived only to find jungle in place of a civilised, democratic country. Most of the settlers died and the rest were rescued and returned to Britain. Despite this, MacGregor continued to sell fraudulent bonds and the above is from the 1827 issue.
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