Vintage Stocks and Bonds

What a great weekend searching for my next treasure

As you may have guessed by now, I am on a mission. Search high and low every flea market and antique centers for long forgotten certificates. This weekend I have solicited the help of my brother and his son on Saturday and my son on Sunday to share my adventures. 

As I continue to repeat here on VintageStocksandBonds.Blogspot.com, treasures are an elusive beast. Starting early, leaving the house at 6:40am to meetup with my brother, Saturday was a bust at the first flea market at Columbus, New Jersey. Very few vendors and most selling new items. If you are planning to go, make it on Sunday as it is the largest flea market I have ever attended in New Jersey. We decided to head over to Englishtown, New Jersey and again, nothing of interest unless you include the skateboard purchased by my nephew for parts. With a quick, late day visit to the Golden Nugget in Lambertville, New Jersey bringing the round trip total mileage for Saturday at 145 miles round-trip. Home by 2:30pm.

Sunday was more than a different day, it was a new, exciting road-trip that again started very early in the morning, leaving the house at 5:40am with my son with the goal to drive 5 plus hours into upstate New York. Canada was only another hour and 15 minutes up the road. We planned on arriving when the 1,000 vendor antique center at Ontario Antiques opened their doors at 10:00am. What a drive. I enjoy spending time with my son and daughter and on this trip gave me a chance to spend over 10 hours driving around looking for antique centers with my son. We talked about everything imaginable and even shared the driving so I could catch a small cat nap. 

I did find a number of certificates at the 1,000 booth antique center. None that were either interesting or priced right for me. We made a decision to take a break for lunch and then instead of going to the next mega center, we decided to take advantage of the location and take a wandering route home around the finger lakes and visited seven more centers. 

It was during this leg of the journey that we stopped at the Rustic Relic located in Canandaigua, New York just after lunch. Quick shout out to Mac's Philly Steaks, well done. Although I am told by my bride, that ordering a cheese steak is not the best choice. In my defense, I only ordered an eight inch sandwich instead of the full 16 and washed it down with bottle of water. At the Rustic Relic I met the mom and daughter running the small establishment. It was organized in the perfect style with just a little clutter to make it inviting. After a few minutes I noticed tucked into the back of a curio cabinet near the counter, a plastic sleeve containing an issued, uncanceled bond of the Montclair and Greenwood Lake Railway Company 1875 in mint condition. This is an amazing example that I plan on adding to my personal collection that makes the whole trip worth while. We arrived late at home exactly at 9:00pm after finishing the round trip total mileage for Sunday at 523 miles round-trip.

Montclair and Greenwood Lake Railway Company 1875

I'll save you the math problem, totaling the miles traveled at 668 and seeing some amazing scenery in the process. My family is planning a return trip to the area for our next vacation. If we would have just driven straight through we could have easily reached Indianapolis, Indiana after leaving New Jersey passing through Pennsylvania and Ohio and making it half way across Indiana.  I will rationalize the cost of fuel as time spent with my family talking about current affairs and staying connected whether it is garage sales with my daughter or antique centers with my son, it is time well spent. 

Here is my plug for the best show in America dedicated to the collection of Stocks and Bonds. I am exhibiting at the upcoming National Stock Certificate and Bond Show presented by Bob Shell on January 25-26, 2013 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel - Dulles Airport, 2200 Centerville Road, in Herndon, Virginia.


Hope to see you there. If you have any questions about your certificates, as I really enjoy hearing where you found them please send me an email at vintagestocksandbonds@yahoo.com.