A SMALL COLLECTION OF ANTIQUE SILVER
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THE WHAT IS? SILVER DICTIONARY

TONTINE SNUFF BOX

Tontine is an investment plan named after Neapolitan banker Lorenzo de Tonti, who is credited with inventing it in France in 1653
Each investor pays a sum into the tontine. Each investor then receives annual dividends on the capital invested. As each investor dies, his or her share is reallocated among the surviving investors and so the value of each annuity increases. This process continues until only one investor survives. Each subscriber receives only dividends; the capital is never paid back.
Originally tontines were organized by governments of France, England, the Netherlands and some German states.
By the end of the 18th century, the tontine had fallen out of favour as a revenue-raising instrument with governments, but smaller-scale and less formal tontines continued to be arranged between individuals or to raise funds for specific projects throughout the 19th century.
In some rare cases the names of the investors were incised in a snuff box adding the date at the death of each subscriber.
Unknown the destination of the snuff box at the death of the last participant to the tontine
tontine snuff box
tontine snuff box



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