Treasures uncovered...New-Century Club of Wilmington

More about my recent discoveries.

My next find a few days later at the Stoud Sunday Market in Adamstown, PA, was found buried among a full box of old papers from the late 1890s to early 1900s. This issued, uncanceled certificate, in incredible condition except for the two folds, is from the New-Century Club of Wilmington dated 1912. From Wikipedia, "The New Century Club was a progressive upper class woman's group dedicated to social improvement and charity as well as woman's suffrage issues. Notable members of the Club included Emily P. Bissell, a Red Cross campaigner against tuberculosis who has a state hospital named after her" as well as a US postage stamp, "and Emalea Pusey Warner, who successfully campaigned for public vocational education and has a local elementary school named in her honor. Speakers at the club included future president Woodrow Wilson and birth control advocate Margaret Sanger." The $30,000 capital was used to create a meeting place for the ladies which stands today used as a theater for children.

New-Century Club of Wilmington dated 1912

I posted a question on the group account of LinkedIn for Scripophily last week asking about the smallest capital issued for a stock and I think Terry Cox has the provided the details of the issue. As per Terry, "The Middletown & Northeastern Railway Co of Columbus, OH was incorporated in 1913 with a capitalization of $1000. Par value was $100. Certificate #1 was issued for 6 shares and therefore represented controlling interest." Thanks Terry. Anyone own one?

Selim Chanderli wrote "I have one of 5'000 Swiss francs from 1933, but I don't know what was the exchange rate CHF/$ at this time..." So what would it be worth in USD in 1933? After some research and math, made easier since both companies were on a different but standard gold measure, 5'000 CHF converts in 1933 to $2184.33.  

Please look though your collections and contribute to this discussion on LinkedIn. 

Beaver Brook Slate Company

What a week I had, well two weeks. After visiting as many antique centers and flea markets near my home that I can find, it is getting harder to get to the new places without traveling at least two hours in one direction. So I rationalize the time and distance, and cost of fuel by starting my trips early in the morning and stopping at Dunkin Donuts for a coffee and muffin. Driving during the early morning avoids traffic and time seems to really fly by anticipating my next great find.

While on my excursions I try to follow my own advise and talk with as many people at local antique centers because they spend a lot of time talking with others dealers that you will never meet on your own. I can't tell you how many people said they did not have anything for me only to tell me about some who might. After arriving in the remote corner of eastern Pennsylvania, searching though the every booth, one proprietor started calling local acquaintances to see if they had anything I might be interested in purchasing. No luck there, but I have to give her a call-out for her customer service. Thank you Zionsville Antique Center.

The Beaver Brook Slate Company 1875

So back to one of my discoveries. My first treasure was displayed in a plastic bag tacked on a wall of one of the hundreds of dealer nooks near Stroudsburg in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Within the bag was The Beaver Brook Slate Company serial number 1, dated 1875 from Warren County, New Jersey. The certificate is signed by Treasurer, George H. Bender and President, George Seitz. The stock is issued and not canceled with allegorical figures on the top of the certificate. I am still looking for more information about the company. Initial search results place the company on New Jersy Route 46 just south of the Delaware Water Gap. On my way home it occurred to me that there might be more available just not displayed, but no, as this certificate was part of a box lot purchase at a local auction included with a stack of older personal papers. Please let me know if you have seen one of these before or know anything about the company.

Hobby uses for Business Cards

I just noticed an amazing deal from VistaPrint where you can get 250 business cards cheap plus shipping. I paid an couple of bucks to include the image of the horse drawn trolley. I copied the vignette from my certificate of the Syracuse Consolidated Street Railway dated 1891. This is a great way to get your name along with your collecting themes to dealers without writing it out by hand every time you meet a dealers at trade shows and antique centers.

Vintage Stocks and Bonds: POV or the Collector - Thinning out the herd

Vintage Stocks and Bonds: POV or the Collector - Thinning out the herd

POV or the Collector - Thinning out the herd

Collections of any type tend to generate items considered clutter that were somewhat interesting when they were originally added to the group only to quickly fall out of favor as other newer acquisition took their place. Scripophily is no exception to this rule. Even collecting for a short time I have certificates that I wish I would have waited for that special item. So now I look at these certificates and wonder what can I do with them? Did you ever think that if you paid for an item, perhaps another collector would also be interested in adding it to their collection.

I have two suggestions to help. First, is to contact auctions@scripophily.org for members of the International Bond and Share Society. If you are not a member, it gives you another reason to join and support Scripophily http://www.scripophily.org/. The auctions are well run using items consigned from other members. If you decide to participate please remember that the Society does not perform valuations and a brief introductory email contact is the best first step. I recently purchased an item in the June 2011 auction and although I struggled with the currency, the Auctioneer was very understanding, thanks again. I am looking forward to the September 2011 auction.

Second, if the certificates have some value, contact your favorite dealer and see if they would be interested in either an outright purchase or a trade so you benefit as much as the dealer. What is important to remember is that the dealer still needs to cover expenses and can only offer a percentage of what it can attract in a full retail environment. Still, that amount can still be above your acquisition price. I recently traded certificates that I had multiple copies for two that I had been watching for some time. At the retail level, once the dealer sells the certificates I traded, they will yield a higher price than what I received, but the operative word is "when" they sell. The dealer must catalog, advertise and store them and if they know a collector interested in a certain subject, it is because they spent considerable time building personal networks of collectors providing insight and expertise.

On a separate note, this month I recently acquired a nice certificate of The Barnes Automatic Car Coupler Co. with an amazing vignette. See the Barnes certificate below.

Certificate Styles Through the Ages

I have started to determine the types of characteristics that are typical for Vintage Stocks and Bonds based on available online images.  Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
Characteristics
Printing technique
Border type and detail
Seals
Use of vignettes
Format layout
Qualities of paper, (e.g., blue tint, sheepskin, velum)
Combination of fonts including Copperplate and Black Text
Typical signatures and industries

 

Who was Sidney Dillon?

Who was Sidney Dillon?

As a fairly new collector interested in vintage stocks and bonds, I have had the opportunity to meet with seasoned dealers and collectors in an attempt to learn as much as possible with the goal of improving my modest collection. I have written articles here on vintagestocksandbonds.blogspot.com over the last several weeks detailing some of my collecting experiences from the POV of the collector. While practicing what I wrote in my prior column, I dedicated several days driving from antique store to antique store, with gas approaching 4 dollars a gallon all over eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, in search of that illusive treasure. In one of the larger antique malls I found, tucked on a bottom shelf of one of the hundreds of booths, a frame containing an original stock certificate of the Union Pacific Railway, serial number B6935 signed by the then president, Sidney Dillon (1812-1892).

Among Dillon's accomplishments is his participation in driving the Golden Spike at Promontory Summit joining the Western Trans-continental Railway with the Eastern Trans-continental Railways. He was President of the Union Pacific Railroad 1874-1884 and 1890-1892. I did not know at that instance the true value of my find. I decided not to purchase the framed certificate and instead drove over to the local Starbucks, (free WiFi for the cost of a small cup of coffee) and take a look at coxrail.com to see if Terry's site had any thoughts about the value of the this railway certificate. What I discovered was potentially incredible. I quickly made my way back to the booth and bought the Union Pacific certificate.

What I find amazing about this certificate besides the large vignette of Lady Liberty and the center image of a locomotive is the rendering of the sad eagle to the left of the shield. Printed by the American Bank Note Company. New York and knowing how hard the engraver worked his magic on this vignette, it seems highly unlikely that the visual results were unintentional.

I wonder if one great find is all I am destined for? No, I refuse to believe that it was all luck but instead perhaps a combination of a little luck and a great deal of sweat searching in places that continue to percolate new material from the hidden depths of hidden estates returning it back to the viewing public.