Question: How much was the USA's down payment on the Louisiana Purchase
About the article "Louisiana Purchase", section "Financing".

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When the United States won its independence from Great Britain in 1783, one of its major concerns was having a European power on its western boundary, and the need for unrestricted access to the Mississippi River.
As American settlers pushed west, they found that the Appalachian Mountains provided a barrier to shipping goods eastward.
The easiest way to ship produce was to use a flatboat to float it down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the port of New Orleans, from whence goods could be put on ocean-going vessels.
The problem with this route was that the Spanish owned both sides of the Mississippi below Natchez.
Napoleon's ambitions in Louisiana involved the creation of a new empire centered on the Caribbean sugar trade.
By the terms of the Treaty of Amiens of 1800, Great Britain returned ownership of the islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe to the French.
Napoleon looked upon Louisiana as a depot for these sugar islands, and as a buffer to U.S. settlement.
In October 1801 he sent a large military force to conquer the important island of Santo Domingo and re-introduced slavery, which had been abolished in Saint Domingue (Haiti) following a slave revolt there in 1792-3, and the legal and constitutional abolition of slavery in French colonies in 1794.
When the army led by Napoleon's brother-in-law Leclerc was defeated by the forces opposed to the re-enslavement of most of the population of St. Domingue, Napoleon decided to sell Louisiana.
Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, was disturbed by Napoleon's plans to re-establish French colonies in America.
With the possession of New Orleans, Napoleon could close the Mississippi to U.S. commerce at any time.
Jefferson authorized Robert R. Livingston, U.S. Minister to France, to negotiate for the purchase of the City of New Orleans, portions of the east bank of the Mississippi, and free navigation of the river for U.S. commerce.
Livingston was authorized to pay up to $2 million.
An official transfer of Louisiana to French ownership had not yet taken place, and Napoleon's deal with the Spanish was a poorly kept secret on the frontier.
On October 18, 1802, however, Juan Ventura Morales, Acting Intendant of Louisiana, made public the intention of Spain to revoke the right of deposit at New Orleans for all cargo from the United States.
The closure of this vital port to the United States caused anger and consternation.
Commerce in the west was virtually blockaded.
Historians believe that the revocation of the right of deposit was prompted by abuses by the Americans, particularly smuggling, and not by French intrigues as was believed at the time.
President Jefferson ignored public pressure for war with France, and appointed James Monroe a special envoy to Napoleon, to assist in obtaining New Orleans for the United States.
Jefferson also raised the authorized expenditure to $10 million.
However, on April 11, 1803, French Foreign Minister Talleyrand surprised Livingston by asking how much the United States was prepared to pay for the entirety of Louisiana, not just New Orleans and the surrounding area (as Livingston's instructions covered).
Monroe agreed with Livingston that Napoleon might withdraw this offer at any time (leaving them with no ability to obtain the desired New Orleans area), and that approval from President Jefferson might take months, so Livingston and Monroe decided to open negotiations immediately.
By April 30, they closed a deal for the purchase of the entire Louisiana territory of for 60 million Francs (approximately $15 million).
Part of this sum was used to forgive debts owed by France to the United States.
The payment was made in United States bonds, which Napoleon sold at face value to the Dutch firm of Hope and Company, and the British banking house of Baring, at a discount of 87½ per each $100 unit.
As a result, France received only $8,831,250 in cash for Louisiana.
Dutiful English banker Alexander Baring conferred with Marbois in Paris, shuttled to the United States to pick up the bonds, took them to Britain, and returned to France with the money – which Napoleon used to wage war against Baring's own country.
When news of the purchase reached the United States, Jefferson was surprised.
He had authorized the expenditure of $10 million for a port city, and instead received treaties committing the government to spend $15 million on a land package which would double the size of the country.
Jefferson's political opponents in the Federalist Party argued that the Louisiana purchase was a worthless desert, and that the Constitution did not provide for the acquisition of new land or negotiating treaties without the consent of the Senate.
What really worried the opposition was the new states which would inevitably be carved from the Louisiana territory, strengthening Western and Southern interests in Congress, and further reducing the influence of New England Federalists in national affairs.
President Jefferson was an enthusiastic supporter of westward expansion, and held firm in his support for the treaty.
Despite Federalist objections, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana treaty on October 20, 1803.
A transfer ceremony was held in New Orleans on November 29, 1803.
Since the Louisiana territory had never officially been turned over to the French, the Spanish took down their flag, and the French raised theirs.
The following day, General James Wilkinson accepted possession of New Orleans for the United States.
A similar ceremony was held in St. Louis on March 9, 1804, when a French tricolor was raised near the river, replacing the Spanish national flag.
The following day, Captain Amos Stoddard of the First U.S.
Artillery marched his troops into town and had the American flag run up the fort's flagpole.
The Louisiana territory was officially transferred to the United States government, represented by Meriwether Lewis.
The Louisiana Territory, purchased for less than 3 cents an acre, doubled the size of the United States overnight, without a war or the loss of a single American life, and set a precedent for the purchase of territory.
It opened the way for the eventual expansion of the United States across the continent to the Pacific. 
Down payment requirements are usually higher for foreign national borrowers.
The minimum down payment is usually 20% of the total purchase price of the property.
This is also referred to as an 80% Loan to Value "LTV" loan.  
The American government used $3 million in gold as a down payment, and issued bonds for the balance to pay France for the purchase.
Earlier that year, Francis Baring and Company of London had become the U.S. government's official banking agent in London.
Because of this favored position, the US asked the Baring firm to handle the transaction.
Francis Baring's son Alexander was in Paris at the time and helped in the negotiations.
Another Baring advantage was a close relationship with Hope and Company of Amsterdam.
The two banking houses worked together to facilitate and underwrite the Purchase.
Because Napoleon wanted to receive his money as quickly as possible, the two firms received the American bonds and paid cash to France.
Louisiana Purchase could be:  The Louisiana Purchase, in which the United States of America bought territory from the French.
"Louisiana Purchase" (musical), a 1940 musical about Louisiana politics.
"Louisiana Purchase" (film), a 1941 adaptation of the musical.
Louisiana Purchase Council, a local council of the Boy Scouts of America.
Louisiana Purchase State Park in Arkansas.
Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the Saint Louis World's Fair of 1904.
A slang name for $100–$300 million in added federal aid for Medicaid recipients in Louisiana ostensibly to "purchase" the vote of U.S.
Senator from Louisiana Mary Landrieu in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Removed from the final passed bill during reconciliation, after Landrieu's vote was cast)  "Louisiana Purchase" (song), a 1948 song by Andy Williams, Kay Thompson, and The Williams Brothers.