Tulip bulbs were the main commodity at the center of the Dutch Tulip Mania bubble, which collapsed in 1637.
Tulips became highly desirable in the Dutch Republic during the seventeenth century, particularly varieties with unusual colors and patterns. Rare bulbs could command exceptionally high prices, and contracts for future delivery were traded by merchants and speculators.
In early 1637, confidence weakened and buyers stopped accepting previously quoted prices. The market fell rapidly, leaving some contracts disputed and prompting government intervention. The episode became a famous example of speculative excess, although later historians have questioned whether its scale was as enormous as popular retellings suggest.
Tulip Mania was not a stock-market crash in the modern sense: tulip bulbs are agricultural commodities, and no modern stock exchange was involved. It is included in financial-crash histories because it illustrates how expectations, leverage, scarcity, and herd behavior can inflate asset prices before a sudden reversal.