Spanish Lottery

1845 printed circular sent from LISBON to LONDON (hand delivered?) promoting the SPANISH LOTTERY, a precursor to the now famous EL GORDO which was introduced at the end of the century.

Britain had ended its own state lottery in 1826 and banned participation in the lotteries of other countries.

So what this is is a sneaky workaround. Oliver Hargreave Esq, a gent of Bloomsbury is being offered the chance to participate in the Spanish lottery via an intermediary in Lisbon, ‘banking agent’ Michael John Coelho. The deal I guess would be that Coelho buys tickets on Hargreave’s behalf and sends him a payout if he wins. Big money up for grabs!

Interesting item.

1845 printed circular LISBON to LONDON promoting SPANISH LOTTERY