Saturday, October 27, 2018

Archives International Auctions goes for a Rat Trick

AIA presents over 500 lots of historical stocks and bonds in a double sesssion auction. The sale takes place at Fort Lee, New Jersey, on 1 November 2018. At stake are fascinating securities that will interest both international and US regional collectors. Some examples from the catalogue :

  • L(ot) 117 Chinese Government 23rd Year (1934)  6% Sterling Indemnity Loan £1000 bond (note £1000 -not £100 as mentioned in the catalogue)
  • L271 Durant Motor Company of California, 1920s
  • L371 The New York Times Company, 1985
  • L391 The Crusader Films Corporation of America, 1920!, pair of stock certificates
  • L433 Banco de Concepcion, Chile, 1880s, great vignettes
  • L450 City of Marseilles, France, 1919
  • L540 Neptune Mining Company, Connecticut, 1880
  • L582 Talladega and Coosa Valley Railroad Company, 1889
  • L614 Gary Street Railway Co, 1917
  • L739 City of Chicago, Cook County, 1933


Among the many certificates is an incredible stock from the Florida Panters Holdings, Inc.


Lot 734 in the auction : Florida Panthers Holdings, Inc.
1996, specimen stock from the American Bank Note Archives, uncirculated
facsimile signature of Harry Wayne Huizinga Sr  

It was Florida Panther player Scott Mellanby who made the first "Rat Trick". The term, a wordplay on "Hat Trick" (scoring three times in a game), was coined by goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck. Before the game against the Calgary Flames on Oct 8, 1995, Mellanby "one-timed" a rat, astray in the locker room, against the wall with his stick and killed it. That evening Mellanby scored two goals with the same stick, a "Rat Trick".
The Florida Panthers were formed in 1992 after the National Hockey League awarded entrepreneur Harry Wayne Huizinga Sr the franchise for a hockey team in the Miami metropolitan area. Huizinga took the Florida Panthers Holdings public in 1996 seeking funds to pay debts and cover losses. He fostered fan ownership and offered 4.6 million shares at $10 per share. Huizinga retained a 51% ownership but would later sell the team.
In the Panther's 1995-1996 season, fans picked up Mellanby's rat trick. Some started threwing rubber rats on the ice in celebration of a goal. The number of rats thrown went to over a few thousands per game during the 1996 playoffs. The Panthers made then their first-ever appearance in the Stanley Cup Final against the winning Colorado Avalanche team. 
After that season the NHL amended its rules : if fans throw debris or rubber rats onto the ice, the referee can eventually issue a penalty to the home team. However, tossing hats onto the ice following a special occasion, e.g. a hat trick goal, was exempted from the rule.



Along with antique stocks and bonds AIA's Fall Sale 6 presents 
hundreds of US, Chinese & Worldwide banknotes and related financial ephemera 


Auction details
  • Location : Fort Lee, New Jersey
  • Date : 1 November 2018
  • Further info : see AIA , online catalogue here and PDF version there 


F.L.

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