Digest of scripophily readings XI

New online scripophily articles and references, June 2013

Herzlich Willkommen in Schweinfurt

Welcome to Schweinfurt! In Bavaria lies the German city of Schweinfurt. The Schweinfurtfuehrer website, English: the Schweinfurt Guide, mentions all the reasons you can think of why you should visit this place : historic buildings and places, museums, recreation and outdoor activities, art.  

But there is more to see on the site: images of numismatic material have been provided by the Schweinfurt Numismatic Society and the city 's Archives. That includes : coins, banknotes and ... yes, beyond any doubt, ... antique stocks and bonds. Here, you'll see several certificates from ball-bearing factories, and did you spot the interest free loan certificate of that bicycle racetrack, with the vignette of an early bike ? There is also a book published about Schweinfurt's scripophily.  Why haven't I visited this place yet ?

Scripophily from East Germany ?
In the former German Democratic Republic, all companies were hold by the GDR government. That is why we do not see any scripophily from this country (1949-1990). Really? Actually no. A very few number of certificates were apparently issued and survived. DGW Information, issue 2013 - 1, published by the Deutsche Geldschein- und Wertpapiersammler e.V. (English: German Banknote and Scripophily Association), tells us more in the article Bankwesen und Wertpapiere in der DDR, see here.
Tip: on the same page you can see a handful of these East German bonds and even a share.

Investment Bubbles in the early UK Bicycle Industry

The 1880s saw several technical improvements by manufacturers of bicycles to improve the safety of their products. Exports of bikes to France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany increased significantly. Spink Insider Magazine, issue 15 Spring 2013, features an article on the early days of the English bicycle industry. Several UK bicycle and early motor car companies are discussed and illustrated with share certificates.  You can read, and download, this nicely written article online here. The author, John Batten, has currently a story on the Sunbeam Motor Company in the latest Scripophily magazine (see below).

Oh, and if you do read this Spink publication, then you probably want to read the Paris Balloon Posts article, not related to scripophily but quite a story.

Scripophily Magazine
In addition to the online sources above, the latest April 2013 No.91 issue of Scripophily magazine, published by the International Bond and Share Society , contains the following stories :

• 'Specophily' finds another darling, otherwise SAGS, about speculation phenomena in scripophily
• Stocks from 1250, a coverage of medieval scripophily in the form tally sticks
• Cox's Corner : Taking the pulse of (one part) of our hobby, concerning prices and estimates
• The Sunbeam Motor Co. Ltd 1899-1919 
• A short story about a curious stock certificate from the "Capital Circuit Traction Company"
• The Inseparable Brothers Dodge & the Dodge Brothers, Inc.
• Art on Italian Government Bonds
• Smaller articles on : Dayton Manufacturing Co., Casa Grande Improvement Co. scam, Grand Trunk Railway Co. of Canada
• other periodical topics : society matters, news, bourse reviews, auction reviews, events calendar, member classifieds, book reviews

F.L.