Jun 21, 2018 - Sale 2483

Sale 2483 - Lot 186

Price Realized: $ 715
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
MADISON, JAMES. Printed Letter Signed, as Secretary of State, circular to consuls and commercial agents, discontinuing the issuance of certificates for foreign vessels purchased by U.S. citizens, and sending new commissions to the commercial agents in France [not present]. 1 page, oblong small 4to, with integral blank; small stain at upper right corner, folds. [Washington], 12 July 1805
Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

"The multiplied abuses of the certificates which the Consuls of the United States were, by the instructions of the 1st August, 1801, authorized to give in the case of foreign vessels . . . have led to . . . a discontinuance of the certificates altogether . . . ."
In an effort to reduce various abuses of the certificates issued by U.S. consuls and commercial agents to verify the ownership of U.S. vessels and cargo, Secretary of State Madison sent to the issuers a circular letter on August 1, 1801, regulating the certificates. The regulations were evidently inadequate.