Voyages and the first shares · 1100s–1600s
1531
The first building made for trading
Antwerp opens a bourse, named after the Bruges inn where merchants used to meet.
In the 1400s, merchants in Bruges gathered outside an inn owned by the Van der Beurze family to trade bills and goods, which gave the word "bourse" to exchanges across Europe.
In 1531 Antwerp opened a building designed for trading, where merchants from many countries met every day.
💡 Why it made sense then
Putting buyers and sellers in one place at one time made it easier to find a trade and to see what things were worth.
Ideas it gave us
- 📈 Stock exchange
A stock exchange is a regulated marketplace where buyers and sellers trade shares, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or Nasdaq.
Practise with $10,000 in play money
Free. No real money involved.