Exchange, a term applied to buildings or places of resort for merchants. The name Bourse (Lat. bursa, 'purse') is applied in France and Belgium to a resort of this kind; and in Germany, Börse.
Exchanges originated in the commercial cities of Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands; and Sir Thomas Gresham, who had resided as English agent at Antwerp in 1550, chose the Bourse of that city as a model for the Royal Exchange of London. Gresham's Burse, for so it was originally called, was built on Cornhill in 1566-67. It consisted of a quadrangle with an arcade; above was a corridor (called the pawn) with stalls, for the sale of wares; outside were shops. On January 23, 1571, the Burse was ceremoniously opened by Queen Elizabeth, who, by herald and trumpet, caused it to be proclaimed 'The Royal Exchange.' This first exchange of London was almost entirely destroyed by the great fire of 1666. A new exchange was forthwith erected on the spot, and opened in 1669; but it also was destroyed by fire, in 1838. The foundation-stone of the third exchange was laid in 1842; and completed at a cost of £180,000, from the designs of Tite, it was opened October 28, 1844, by Queen Victoria.
The term exchange seems to have been naturally adopted from the circumstance that buying and exchanging of merchandise, and also exchanging and paying away of money, formed the chief object of concourse. In the present day, early intelligence in matters affecting commerce and public finance forms a principal attraction of this kind of resort. Although open daily, there are usually certain days and hours of meeting when the throng is considerable. The meeting is familiarly called 'Change.' The two great days of meeting at the Royal Exchange, London, are Tuesday and Friday, and the busiest time is from three to four o'clock.
In London there are several other exchanges, but for special purposes; among these are the Corn Exchange in Mark Lane, the Coal Exchange in Lower Thames Street, the Hop and Malt Exchange in Southwark, the Hide and Skin Exchange or Market in Bermondsey, and the Stock Exchange, near the Bank of England. Amongst the exchanges in the large towns of England and Scotland, those of Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow are specially noteworthy. There are exchanges, many of them for special purposes, in Augusta, Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Charleston, Chicago, Detroit, Louisville, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, St Louis, San Francisco, and other cities of the United States. See CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, STOCK-EXCHANGE.