Digest of scripophily readings VIII

New online scripophily articles and references, November 2012

Bibliographies of scripophily

It is just amazing how much literature has been published for scripophily enthusiasts. Too much too keep track off, but not for Hans-Georg Glasemann from Germany. Glasemann compiled two lists of publications related to the field of collecting antique share and bond certificates :

• German bibliography of scripophily, in German, see here
• Foreign-language bibliography of scripophily, in other words publications in other languages, see there .

I made a rough estimation, we are talking about an impressive 500 entries in both lists. "Georg" is continuously updating the lists. He will be very happy if you send him additional suggestions, additions or bug fixes. You can reach him at nonvaleurs.de@gmail.com .

Glasemann, an expert in scripophily research, is regularly seen as author of articles in scripophily magazines and known as book author as well. All of this can be discovered on his website www.nonvaleurs.de . Tip: check out his article on the Suez Canal securities.

SCOB lists Bruxelles stock exchange companies

The Research Center for Corporations and Stock Exchange, in Dutch: Studiecentrum voor Onderneming en Beurs (SCOB), is a research centre at the University of Antwerp. The main goal of SCOB is to study the financial data and history of the Belgian stock exchanges and the companies listed on these. Read more about SCOB's activities and projects here.

Interesting for us, SCOB maintains a list with all corporations ever quoted at the Brussels stock Exchange. The list can be downloaded here as an Excel file.

The Rothschild Archive

I'm sure some of you already know about the Rothschild Archive. It was ".. established in 1978 to preserve and arrange the record of the Rothschild family that is widely recognised for the major contribution it has made to the economic, political and social history of many countries throughout the world. The research centre is based in London, and a web site has been developed to make the contents of the archive more readily available to remote users and researchers. .." 

And there is a lot to find on the web site. A few examples :

• an article, titled Egyptian finances in the nineteenth centure: a Rothschild perspective, containing a few pictures of old bond certificates, see here 
• a list of hundreds of loans for sovereign governments issued by the London Rothschild House, see here 
• a presentation on the Rothschild name and the association with wine, see there .

There must be lots more, I did not have the time to discover it all. If you find anything interesting, please let me know by email, or add it in the comments section below.

double-click image to enlarge

der aktiensammler 

In addition to the articles above, the latest October 2012 No.5/12 issue of der aktiensammler magazine, contains the following stories (in German) :

• Die Weimar-Rastenberger Eisenbahn kam nie so richtig in Fahrt, about the Weimar-Rastenberg railway company
• Bietfieber: Warum wir bei Auktionen manchmal mehr bieten, als wir sollten, in English : Bid fever: why we often bid more than we should in auctions
• Lintorfer Erzbergwerke : Explorations-Story aus dem Niederbergischen Land, a story on the mining history in the Lintorf area near Ratingen, Germany
• Der 20. Juni 1948 - der Tag an dem der Hamster verschwand, freely translated: The Currency Reform of 1948 and the introduction of the Deutsche Mark (part 11 in a series on the evolution of money)
• Warum die Schmidheinys keine Banker waren (Teil 1), about the Schmidheiny industrial entrepreneurs family and the Holderbank cement business
• Besserungsscheine : Lieber Sammeln als auf Nachschlag hoffen, in English : Besserungsscheine, bonds, issued after WWII in West Germany
• The Coca-Cola Company : Start als Einprodukt-Anbieter
• Von der Billigmarke zum Premium-Produkt: Pepsi-Cola
• Bergmann-Elektricitäts-Werke AG : In der Elektroindustrie gab Berlin den Ton an
• other periodical topics : Auction Reviews, Collector's Portrait, Events Calendar, Classifieds

F.L.

Scrollwork at left

The common use of the term 'scrollwork' in scripophily

In auction catalogues that are written in English, you probably have noticed lot descriptions containing a phrase like 'scrollwork at left'. Such an expression will refer to a whole of ornamental design elements at the left side of a share or bond certificate. The term is an English term and you will often find such design elements on English shares and bonds. An example of scrollwork is printed at the left on the share shown below, hence the expression 'scrollwork at left'. Is there also something like 'scrollwork at right'? Ofcourse, scrollwork can be seen on all possible positions on a certificate. 

The Para Electric Railways and Lighting Company, Limited

Certificate for 5% first debenture stock, 1968

Printed by W.H. Rickinson & Son

left image: detail of the 'scrollwork at left' 
double-click to enlarge images

Origins of the term 'scrollwork'

Scrollwork is an ornamental design element resembling a spiral. The name is derived from the word scroll which is a roll of paper, parchment or papyrus. The edge view of a scroll forms a spiral. 

The term scrollwork is derived from the word scroll, which is a roll of paper. 
The edge view of the paper forms a spiral.
detail from the certificate below

Nouvelle Compagnie de la Ligne Internationale d'Italie
par le Simplon (Chemins de Fer et Navigation)
Bond for 525 Francs, 1868
double-click to enlarge image

Women versus men in scripophily

Do men and women really collect differently ?

Collecting is a hobby that we may undertake for several reasons. In the act, we seek for aesthetics or historical appeal. Some of us collect because we enjoy the social interaction with other collectors. We can even try to pursuit profit. Collectors may collect for the reward they receive when acquiring better skills and knowledge. Whatever the reason, both men and women have been collecting for thousands of years. The question is do they collect in a similar way ? That is exactly what we can find out by setting up a scripophily poll on this topic.

Scripophily collecting behavior
This poll is about us, men and women in scripophily, and our particular collecting behavior. So, please participate. The more results we gather, the interesting the outcome. If you know a friend, man or woman, old or young, who is also collecting stocks and bonds, convince him or her to participate as well. If you have a blog, or if you are member of a scripophily association, tell about this poll. Truely, every participation counts.

Poll information :

• You can find the poll below this article. It contains about 20 questions.
• Your answers are anonymously and will be kept that way. 
• The poll will be closed on 30th April 2013. 
• After the closing, I'll do an analysis and present it in a follow-up article. 

Also, I wish to thank the following persons for providing some very interesting questions:

Ursula Kampmann, from CoinsWeekly, and Dagmar Schönig, from the Wertpapierwelt museum.

Have fun ! I will be delighted with every single participation.

F.L.

Update (2013 Sep)
The reviews can be seen here ;

• part 1
• part 2
• part 3 

La Salvadora,

compañia de seguros maritimos, avales y subvenciones

20 Shares of 5000 Reales each

Barcelona, 1857

engraving by Antonio Roca y Sallent

double-click image to enlarge