Sublime

Anthony Drexel, of the long-established Philadelphia banking family, changing the firm to Drexel, Morgan & Co., with the older man again named first.

J. S. Morgan’s core business was short-term trade finance, “discounting bills,” as it was called. Its primary customers were American cotton or iron merchants. They typically sold their goods on credit, taking back a piece of paper, or “bill of exchange,” which could be cashed at a specific bank such as Barings at some set future date. If a merchan