Friday, February 15, 2013

Book : The Egyptian Bourse

                                  

front cover of book The Egyptian Bourse depicting share of Canal Maritime de Suez
double-click image to enlarge 
image source by Boone Shares


  • Title : The Egyptian Bourse
  • Authors : Samir Raafat
  • ID : ISBN 977-5864-16-X, published by Zeitouna, 2010
  • Languages : English
  • Number of pages : 112
  • Images : page wide color images 
  • Indexes : no index

This large format luxury publication introduces us into Egyptian scripophily. About 50 shares or bonds from companies are discussed with the necessary background information. Large color images. The companies included were active in the field of : public construction & real estate, banking and insurances, agriculture and food, canals, railways, transport, navigation, public utilities, trading and shops, textiles, breweries, mining, hotels and clubs.

A nice introduction into antique stocks and bonds from Egypt.


F.L.


Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Exhibition : Von Leistung, Leid und Leidenschaft

Von Leistung, Leid und Leidenschaft. 
Bergbau-Geschichten nicht nur aus Schlesien

freely translated: 
Achievements, Suffering and Passion. 
Mining stories from Silesia and elsewhere. 

share certificate of Preussengrube Aktiengesellschaft
Preussengrube Aktiengesellschaft
1000 Mark share certificate
Berlin, 1922
Printed by Giesecke & Devrient
double-click to enlarge

Mining history from Silesia and elsewhere
As the largest Silesian museum in the western part of Germany, the Oberschlesische Landesmuseum collects objects especially from different parts of Silesia including the Polish Voivodeships Opolskie and Śląskie, as well as the Czech Republic today.

Until 7 April 2013, the museum is home to its temporary exhibition Von Leistung, Leid und Leidenschaft which highlights the rich mining history of Silesia and other regions. Exhibits, including multimedia elements, typical mining tools, garments, photographs and lots more, span a period from the Prussian time till the modern industrial age. Topics: technical know-how, important mines, mining pioneers & entrepreneurs, safety and rescue operations, underground life et cetera. Some of the objects can even be experienced by touch. On display too are a number of bond and share certificates.

A great opportunity to experience the past of antique mining securities !

Practical info
  • location : Oberschlesisches Landesmuseum, Ratingen, Germany
  • duration : 14 October 2012 - 7 April 2013
  • opening hours : Tuesday - Sunday, 11:00-17:00
  • closed : during Carnival 7-11 February 2013 and Easter 29-31 March 2013, but open on Easter Monday 1 April 2013
  • entrance fee : adults 5 Euro, students, seniors and children 3 Euro
  • guided tours and educational programs available

Further reference

By the way, planning a visit to the Papierania bourse on 24 March 2013 ? Ratingen is only 110 kilometers away from Aachen.

F.L.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Digest of scripophily readings IX

New online scripophily articles and references, January 2013

Pre-World War I American railroads
The following image depicts a stock certificate printed by the American Bank Note Company.

stock certificate of the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad Company
Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad Company
certificate for 5 shares of $100, 1888
identified in the Cox catalog as  WES-748-S-39 iu
double-click image to enlarge
This rare and fine specimen of an engraved stock certificate can be seen, along with many others, on Pete Angelos' website showing American railroad stocks and bonds. Besides issued scripophily papers, separate sections contain proofs and specimens. A special section is dedicated to Confederate issues. All these beauties, can be seen here . Peter, thank you for sharing!

French shipping companies and their house flags
Dominique Cureau has listed more than 2300 French shipping companies and 900 house flags on his website. Interesting to see that several of the flags illustrated are details from shares and bonds.
Try to identify this flag on
 
https://pavillon.houseflag.free.fr/ 

If you have a share certificate depicting a French shipping flag, you can research the company or the flag in the following ways :
  • alphabetical index on company name
  • search by flag characteristics
  • or use a term with the search engine.

Merci for sharing your expertise !
Who can help Dominique in completing his inventory of house flags of French shipping companies ?

History of the Norwegian stock exchange
The offices of the Christiania Børs, English: Christiana Exchange, opened in 1819. A new building was opened in 1829. It was the first monumental building since Norways independence declaration from Denmark in 1814 and it took another 52 years, in 1881 to be precisely, before the first securities were listed. Before that, it was a place for trading currencies, bills of exchanges, commodities, ships and parts. 

In the original trading room you can still still see the weather clock, connected with a weather vane on the roof. Depending on the wind direction, prices of commodities and securities went up and down depending on the direction. Why, and much more, can be read on the following pages of the Oslo Stock Exchange  :

der aktiensammler magazine December 2012

der aktiensammler
In addition to the articles above, the latest December 2012 No.6/12 issue of der aktiensammler magazine, and at the same time the last issue, contains the following stories (in German) :

  • Der Goldstandard - kein Allheilmittel, aber immer noch vertrauensbildend, about the gold standard and our monetary system in the past (part 12 in a series on the evolution of money)
  • Echte und unechte Eiffelturm-Aktien : Auf die Nuancen kommt es an, in English: True and unreal Eiffel Tower shares: It's all there in the Nuances
  • HEAG: 100 Jahre Eisenbahn und Strom in Südhessen, about the history of the Hessen railway company and its growth into a larger concern with interests in electric power utilities, telecommunication et cetera
  • Spekulation: Schlummernde Schätze oder doch nur Nonvaleurs ?, a collector tells us about his (disappointing) adventures when trying to sell so-called speculative certificates
  • Warum die Schmidheinys keine Banker waren (Teil 2), about the Schmidheiny industrial entrepreneurs family and the Holderbank cement business (part 2)
  • other periodical topics : Auction Reviews, Collector's Portrait, Events Calendar, Classifieds

I am sorry to learn from the editors that the magazine will no longer be published.

F.L.