Which company’s collapse became the most famous symbol of the South Sea Bubble in Britain?

The South Sea Company’s collapse became the most famous symbol of Britain’s South Sea Bubble.

Founded in 1711, the company received a government-backed monopoly over British trade with Spanish South America, although its actual trading opportunities were far smaller than many investors imagined. In 1720, it proposed converting government debt into company shares, encouraging intense speculation.

Share prices rose dramatically as investors bought into stories of immense overseas wealth. The bubble burst later in 1720, and the company’s shares plunged, ruining many investors and triggering a political scandal in Britain.

The South Sea Bubble was not the only major speculative episode of the period. France’s Mississippi Company bubble also collapsed in 1720, but that event was centered on John Law’s financial system and is a separate episode from the British South Sea crisis.