There were two main sets of playing cards published recording/caricaturing the follies of greed which became almost endemic and bankrupted a range of merchants as well as causing
financial ruin to the 'upper classes'
Some of the schemes will look as obvious scams to us today being more aware of fraud,
pyramids and bubbles.
But lessons ae never learnt as perpetrators get more sophisticated and greed seems to be in our DNA
This is a complete set of 52 cards and
the Ace of Spades bears the Red Sixpence duty stamp for the period.
The cards have a few small issues, which can be seen on the pictures below, but this is a rare deck even more so as it is the first edition.
Background: The South Sea Bubble
- The South Sea Company was established in 1711 to manage and consolidate British national debt and to trade with Spanish colonies in South America.
- By 1720, speculative trading in the company’s shares led to a massive financial bubble, which burst disastrously, causing widespread ruin among investors and shaking public trust in financial markets.
- This event gave rise to a great deal of satirical literature and imagery, which criticized the greed, gullibility, and speculative mania of the time.
Thomas Bowles’ Stock-Jobbing Cards are a vivid reflection of 18th-century England’s financial excesses and the societal response to one of history’s most infamous economic bubbles. They stand as both a cautionary tale and an example of how satire was used to critique contemporary events

The Cards and Their Satirical Purpose
- The Stock-Jobbing Cards reflect the public mood of disillusionment and satire surrounding the South Sea Bubble.
- Thomas Bowles, a well-known London print seller, likely published these cards as part of the satirical trend that emerged following the bubble’s collapse.
- Each card depicts a scene or a character involved in speculative trading—often portrayed humorously or with biting irony