Moses Mendes da Costa

Moses Mendes da Costa, also called Anthony da Costa, was an 18th-century English merchant and banker. He was also active in advocating the rights of English Jewish community.

Moses Medes was active in the coral and diamond trades, especially with the East Indies. In 1727 he applied for membership in the Russia Company, but was rejected on the grounds of being a Jew. Moses mounted a legal charge that failed the following year after the company had altered its charter to provide for such exclusion. His business interests were also in banking. He held shares in the Bank of England, and has erroneously been credited with being the first Jewish Director of the Bank of England.

Moses Mendes da Costa was a leading member of the Bevis Marks Congregation and was its Parnas Presidente (presiding warden) in 1735. Besides fighting for the rights for the members of the Jewish community with the Russia Company, he was part of a delegation that requested an increase in the number of Sephardi brokers permitted by the City of London. He was also one of the three Jewish sub-commissioners appointed for the colonization of Georgia and was a member of the Royal Society.