Companies' policies and shares
Of this conspicuous archive, consisting of more than 3,000 insurance company policies and shares, a few examples are sufficient to realise the variety of the material held.
Beginning with an ancient, entirely handwritten policy from 1582 - with which Bartolomeo Corsini insured the transport by sea of a cargo of goods from the port of London to that of Livorno - and moving on to contracts that (in the very early years of the 17th century) began to use a form that had already been printed.
And then the policies, mainly English, from the end of the 18th century decorated with refined engravings and, without exhausting the subject, arrive at the life insurance policies for slaves, the French ones against the risk of being called to arms or those, of recent memory, destined to invest the small savings of the Balilla.
Finally, some collections of maritime policies are worth mentioning, which - due to the fact that they originate in large numbers from individual merchant marketplaces over a short period of time - can provide precise information on the insurance practice of the time.
In 2018, the archive collection was enriched with 200 shares of Italian and foreign insurance companies, the reproduction of which is available online, together with the rest of the documentation.
Special collections
Cod fishing
A collection of policies from the second half of the 18th century, stipulated on cod fishing boats. This particular fishery was practised on the route from St. Malo to the coast of Canada.
The call to arms
In the Insurance Museum's collection of insurance policies, there are some very unusual policies. In this video, you can discover what curious insurance industry French insurers ‘invented’ in the 19th century.
The tontines
Dowry insurance and life annuities inspired the Neapolitan physician and banker Lorenzo Tonti (1630-1695) who, travelling around Europe, offered plans to restore state finances: the so-called ‘Tontine’, the first example of survival insurance.
Balilla's policies
In the first half of the last century, to encourage retirement and savings, the INA offered children the Balilla policy, an insurance policy with a monthly premium, the payment of which was certified by the issuance of a special stamp to be pasted on a small album.
Slaves' policies
In the past, slaves were also the subject of insurance contracts, not as persons unfortunately, but as commodities. The beneficiary of the policy in the event of death, illness or injury of the slave was, in fact, the ‘owner’
Malta's policies
Many insurance companies sprang up in the small island of Malta in a short space of time, dealing in the marine, body or cargo business.
The Museum preserves 276 specimens of policies issued in Valletta between 1845 and 1860.
