What is a modern analogy to the Victorian-style "guarantee fund"?
e.g. a guarantee fund was used in the 1851 to raise the up-front cash to hold the Great Exhibition. The event had no government funding, and it also failed to raise anywhere near enough private subscriptions.
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So the organisers created a guarantee fund.
Essentially, instead of asking for money from supporters up-front, they asked them to commit to covering the Exhibition's potential losses, up to a certain amount - to be paid only *if* the money was required.
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People who were very confident about the Exhibition being a profitable success ended up signing for very large amounts - probably more than they'd actually have been able to afford - but, crucially, the size of the guarantee fund was used as the security for a bank loan.
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So the Great Exhibition - this gigantic event, with over 6 million visitors - was funded by a bank, with the security essentially a crowd-sourced list of promises.
Fortunately for the guarantors, it was a massive, profitable success. So they never even paid a penny.
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They had a big celebration ceremony of the guarantors, at which they even ritually tore up the fund.
And they did it again and again. Not just for the Great Exhibition of 1851, but for the one in 1862, and well into the early 20thC. And then they seem to have gone out of fashion
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Worth mentioning that this was a charitable endeavour. So guarantors did not receive any of the profits from the event. They only committed to cover potential losses.
To put into perspective: it raised only £65k in up-front subs. But a guarantee fund - i.e. security - of £350k!
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Some intriguing suggestions, thanks. Though none quite seem to fit the model. It leaves me with two major questions to research: 1) where did guarantee funds come from; and 2) why did they disappear?
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Just wrote and scheduled a write-up of this idea, along with some thoughts on potential applications and advantages. It'll be released in the morning!
