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. 

Meet me at the Allentown Paper Show

October 6th & 7th

After many years of crawling around old antique stores, visiting every flea market within three hours from my home and browsing each garage sale even if the drive by proved lacking, I now have put a stake in the ground. I have decided to attend the upcoming Allentown Paper Show at Agricultural Hall in Allentown not as a buyer, wandering the halls, but from the other side of the table.  This is the first time, most of my collection has ever seen the light of day. 

Under the my stage name, Vintage Stocks and Bonds, I procured a large booth in the main hall. My first quandary was what quality items could I possibly offer for sale for what is expected to be 1,400 discerning buyers to this great event. After searching every box and pile around the house, I found postcards, sheet music, artwork, tickets to the 1932 Republican and Democratic National Conventions from 1932 and admission tickets from the 1876 and 1893 Worlds Fair in amazing condition, odds and ends ephemera and of course, stocks and bonds from America to around the globe. If you are looking for a great deal on a blueberry, in green, I have one for sale at a great price. One of my many interesting items for sale at the show is an uncancelled original Central Transportation Company stock from the 1880's issued to George Pullman and signed on the back by Robert Todd Lincoln in perfect condition.

 
These coupons are good as a reminder and save you a dollar at the door.


Plan a day visiting and make sure you spend time at the Farmers Market just next store.  The address, for GPS is Allentown Fairgrounds 1929 Chew Street, Allentown, PA. Please contact me at vintagestocksandbonds@yahoo.com if you have any questions or are interested in a particular item.

See you at the Allentown paper Show.
Bill    

Another challenge - Highest percentage of ownership

Another trip, another interesting find. Listed below is the Citizens Passenger Railway Company serial number 33 issued in 1919 to the Fidelity Title & Trust Company Trustee. When I find railroad stocks and bonds, my first place to check is coxrail.com. After a quick review, I determined that it is CIT-225 based on the green stamp in the lower left corner, listed but not yet reported on coxrail.com. I sent Terry Cox an image (300 dpi) and he noticed something else interesting. This certificate was issued for all but five shares issued for 3,995 of an outstanding 4,000 shares. That represents 99.875% of ownership of the railroad.

This is a rare certificate with a maximum number of certificates issued to this one and five more if the others were for one share each. I am reminded of a great quote from Terry Cox's April 2008 Newsletter "As best I can tell, rarity can do little but imply how long buyers may need to wait to find another example of the same certificate. If the period between buying opportunities is important, then rarity is a good thing to know." I think a major flaw inherent determining rarity is that they are based on items for sale and not certificates that are part of a collector's inventory. Therefore, I do not expect a perfect rarity scale anytime soon. As you can see from the image below, this certificate has a fairly common appearance. So now for my challenge to other collectors.

Does anyone posses a certificate with a greater portion of outstanding shares at the time the certificate was issued?

Citizens Passenger Railway Company - 1919 for 99.875% of ownership

   

I need to add some clarity about my trips in search of that next great treasure. This certificate was the results of one of two trips to South Jersey as far south as the town of Salem. My discovery occurred only after trolling through over a dozen antique stores and flea markets. At one of the antique shops, I did spend a few minutes speaking with Mike from the Royal Port Antiques. Although he only had some old receipts, Mike mentioned that more items are expected soon so I left him my card. Royal Port Antiques is fairly new with very interesting items displayed on multiple levels situated in an old barn. I mention this shop because it is in a remote area of the state that could yield some very worthy certificates. I look forward to hearing from him.

Most of the other antique shops I visited were in multi-vendor buildings offering the typical wide variety of merchandise varying from early American furniture to a massive array of smalls to yesterday's junk. As for my search, I guess they would not be called treasures if they appeared in every place I checked. As I have mentioned in my prior postings encouraging starting conversations with proprietors about vintage stocks and bonds, most have not seen any for many months. On my recent trips, besides the Citizen Passenger Railway Company, the one exception compared to what I usually find with recently dated overpriced certificates far from interesting, was a small camping association from the 1910s. Sadly the price kept me from adding it to my collection.

Stay tuned for my next blog entry on a recent research project based on the history of corporations in the United States.

Secret Spy Satellites Designed by the Perkin-Elkin Corporation

On September 17, 2011 the United States unclassified documents associated with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Included in the release were details naming the KH-9 HEXAGON, commonly known as Big Bird, which produced a series of photographic reconnaissance satellites launched by the United States between 1971 and 1986 and naming the Perkin-Elkin Corporation as one of the secret companies. The effort was a joint venture between the CIA and the Air Force. Operations provided agents with high definition photographs of Soviet Union, Chinese and Cuban military sites between 1972 - 1986.1 

Perkin-Elmer Corporation - 1980

Perkin-Elkin Corporation was rewarded their first top secret contract from the CIA in 1966 to build highly sensitive cameras and optics used on the KH-9. A nondescript building on the hill by the airport in Danbury Connecticut provided work space, without windows, for over 1,000 employees as well as areas to test the effects of rocket launches on the equipment and create environments of extreme temperatures to mimic the conditions of the cameras in outer space.

The Hexagon project was considered the most successful space spy satellite program of the cold war era. One of the declassified successes mentions "Hexagon providing crucial information for the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1970s."2

I went through my common certificates and found several for the Perkin-Elkin Corporation. A quick search of the Internet uncovers many samples at near giveaway prices. I am sure there are plenty of inventory in circulation for now. Looking ahead, every history teacher in the country will want one of these stock certificates hanging on their wall. The idea of finding a conspiracy coming to life right in our backyard is at least news worthy and most likely makes these certificates highly sought after for many years to come.

So if you are reading this blog entry, you may be one of the few collectors able to acquire a sample of the Perkin-Elkin Corporation for your collection at bargain prices. Good luck and happy hunting. As the year ends, I would like to wish everyone a safe, happy holiday season. I am really looking forward to 2012 and what it has to offer.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KH-9_HEXAGON
2 Helen O'Neill is a New York-based national writer for the Associated Press. She can be reached at feature(at)ap.org.

Another great find... Pennsylvania Steel Company - 1882

My search for vintage Stocks and Bonds continues. I have been using several sources including the Sunday Driver maps, sundaydriver.com, local flea markets and of course, the Internet. As mentioned in my last entry, most of the major antique centers near my home have been searched multiple times. Unfortunately, the only changes I seem to notice is the updated materials from July 4th, to Halloween to Christmas. So I put on a smile and ask if there are any old business documents. Even when the proprietors say "no", I still search top to bottom moving everything on the tables, opening drawers, and looking behind counters.

Monday this week yielded an amazing find at Ziegler's In the Country , www.zieglersantiques.com near Hearshy PA. I was on my way to another location and happened by the store swerving into the parking lot. The two ladies working the desk were so friendly and were not aware of the location of any stocks or bonds in the building. After combing through the first floor booths, saying goodbye to the ladies, I almost missed the set of stairs tucked away on the left. Sure enough, at the end of the first row of booths on the second floor I located an overcrowded nook with a secretary buried against the back wall. It was filled with very fragile glassware when I see it. Tucked behind all of the glassware is an old folded leather certificate frame with the tell-tale vignettes that I have become so attached. The lady at the store had to help me uncover and move all of the glassware to get it out of the cabinet.

Within the frame was a the Pennsylvania Steel Company certificate dated Valentine's day, 1882. The certificate has five vignettes and is signed  by Secretary, Eben F. Barker and by the President,Samuel M. Felton.  Felton also played a role in thwarting an assassination attempt on President Lincoln in February 1861. (Felton family papers (Collection 1151), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania).

Samuel M. Felton (1809-1889)

Pennsylvania Steel Company

The Pennsylvania Steel Company was organized in June 1865. The following year it purchased land for its main production facility in Steelton, near Harrisburg. Operations commenced at the plant in May 1867. Closely associated with the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Pennsylvania Steel Company's first contract was to roll steel rails for the railroad, utilizing the then-revolutionary Bessemer steel process.

Pennsylvania Steel Company - 1882

A corporation formed under the laws of Pennsylvania in 1895. The company was a reorganization of a corporation of the same name, Pennsylvania Steel Company, the property of which was acquired by the present organization in 1895 under foreclosure proceedings. The plant consists of large works at Steelton, Pa., for the manufacture of steel rails, railway material, structural work, railroad crossings and special work. The company has four blast furnaces, Bessemer steel works blooming-mill, open hearth steel plant, billet mill, a rail mill, as well as a bridge building plant and facilities for making structural works, frogs, switches and signals and other specialties. Its steel plant has an annual capacity of 400,000 tons. The company owns the entire stock ($1,000,000) of the Maryland Steel Co., which has a large steel plant at Sparrow's Point, Md., with a capacity of 300,000 tons of steel rails per year and a large ship-building plant. The company also owned a half interest in the Juragua Iron Co., which has iron ore mines in the province of Santiago, Cuba, and a plan for the acquisition of the Cuban Steel Ore Co. was proposed in 1900, this company having an option upon the latter company's stock until July 1, 1901.

In January, 1901, a plan of financial reorganization was adopted, involving a reincorporation of the company, with an authorized capital of $25,000,000 preferred and $25,000,000 common stock, of which $16,500,000 preferred and $10,750,000 common will be issued forthwith. As part of the plan a syndicate was to supply $9,000,000 cash, taking for same $10,000,000 of new preferred stock and a similar amount of common. In 1916, the Pennsylvania Steel Company was one of the operations merged to form Bethlehem Steel (Maley 2002).

My search continues, I will return to Hershey in the coming weeks to finish visiting the local antique centers. 

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.