The 1720 speculative bubble associated with a company granted a monopoly over British trade with the South Seas was the South Sea Bubble.
The South Sea Company received trading privileges and became the focus of intense speculation. Its shares rose dramatically in 1720 as investors expected enormous profits, even though the company’s real trading prospects were far less impressive than public enthusiasm suggested.
When confidence broke, the share price collapsed. Many investors suffered ruin, and the scandal damaged public trust in financial promotion. Isaac Newton, who had owned shares, is often linked to the episode through a later quotation about calculating the motion of heavenly bodies but not the madness of crowds.
The South Sea Bubble occurred alongside John Law’s Mississippi Bubble in France. They were related examples of early eighteenth-century speculation, but they were separate companies and national episodes.