French scripophily terms 2.0

Do you agree that France is the nation that has left us the most decorative bond and share certificates  ? If you know a little French, it is often possible to derive from the lettering on those certificates what the issuing companies were all about. 

Actually, we can find bonds and shares from all over the world with text written in French. Besides France, some of the better known examples of French speaking countries are Canada, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg. 

Let's spin a globe and pick a spot. There is a good chance we know "French" scripophily from a country marked by our finger, such as : Madagascar, Vietnam, New Caledonia and Guadeloupe. In fact, every continent has some states with bonds and shares written in French. Then there are also the many French language certificates issued by companies operating abroad, many of these were Belgian. We find actions de capital and parts de fondateur in Russia, Egypt, China, Ottoman Empire, Spain, Brazil, and again, much more. 

One of the readers of the blog, came across the 100 French Scripophily terms on this site and suggested some extra entries for it. Wonderful, thank you for that. You can check out the enhanced list here.

Here is a little test to help you sharpen your French skills. Try to find the meaning of following terms printed on the illustrated share below :

• magasin
• bois
• scieries
• société anonyme
• capital social
• part de fondateur
• sans désignation de valeur
• administrateur

Of course, you can use the 100 French Scripophily terms cheat sheet.

Click the image of this Belgian share to enlarge. 

Can you locate the French terms from the little test ? 

Test passed ? You will see that exercising your French scripophily skills will not only keep your mind sharp, but it will also prove to be useful soon :

• the upcoming Boone auction features hundreds of French scripophily certificates, and, 
• rumor has it that a new, free scripophily newsletter, in French, is born, but more on that in the next issue of Scripophily magazine and in a later blog post. 

F.L.

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