Sunday, November 24, 2013

Digest of scripophily readings XII

New online scripophily articles and references, November 2013


Taiwan Stock Museum
About one year ago, the Taiwan Stock Museum (TSM) was opened officially to the public in Taipei. The museum was created by the Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation (TDCC) following the completion of the company's move to a paperless depository of securities in July 2011. The museum, which includes an interactive multimedia hall, shows artifacts and many stocks and bonds that have witnessed the historical development of Taiwan's stock market.
Related links :


NONVALEURS on Tumblr
Hans-Georg Glasemann, author of many books and articles, see for example here, is also the writer of many scripophily related posts on his NONVALEURS blog on Tumblr. You'll find out that Mr. Glasemann's topics cover all themes worldwide. Most articles are written in German, here is one of my favorites about Papua New Guinea, but occasionally you can detect stories written in English, like this one about early attempts to connect France and the UK by means of a railway tunnel. Tumblr is a social-media blogging platform, so you can "Follow" the NONVALEURS blog and never miss a post !




Scripophily Magazine
In addition to the online sources above, the latest August 2013 No.92 issue of Scripophily magazine, published by the International Bond and Share Society , contains the following stories :
  • Speculation mixed, about speculation phenomena in scripophily
  • Collectors' clearinghouse - Hetty HR Green
  • Cox's Corner : Sharing information and knowledge
  • Dr Fred S Pearson and the Infrastructure Revolution, about infrastructure and railway investments in the US, Canada and Mexico
  • Britain's National Debt, a coverage of 17th, 18th and 19th century loans, payment orders and annuities
  • Scripophily at the New York Stock Exchange, about the NYSE archives
  • Consolidate What ? a story on John Peirce's railway ventures
  • Inspection of the vignettes on a share of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, amazing what there is to see !
  • Tasker L Oddie - Prospector & Politician, a US gold mining story
  • An Interesting Mystery, about Chester Pennsylvania banks 
  • other periodical topics : society matters, news, bourse reviews, auction reviews, events calendar, member classifieds, book reviews

F.L.
Signed the Guest book yet ?

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Spink UK - Auction November 2013


Spink UK - Bonds and Share Certificates of the World


share certificate of the Geldenhuis Deep gold mining company in Transvaal South Africa
Geldenhuis Deep Limited
1934, Johannesburg, Transvaal
25 Shares of 1 Pound Sterling
Printed by Waterlow & Sons
double-click image to enlarge



  • Date: November 28, 2013
  • Place: London, UK
  • More info, see here 



F.L.

Friday, November 1, 2013

The Copper Handbook - a manual of the copper mining industry of the world


The Copper Handbook, by Horace Stevens
image by Boone Shares
Following is a list of the elements with which copper is found chemically united in nature. This list includes 29 of the 77 elements known to science at this writing. Following the name of each element is its chemical symbol and atomic weight, as now figured by the best authorities : 


Aluminium Al 27.1
Antimony Sb 120
Arsenic As 75
Bismuth Bi 208.3
Calcium Ca 40.1
Carbon C 12
Chlorine Cl 35.45
Cobalt Co 59
Copper Cu 63.6
Hydrogen H 1.01
Iron Fe 56
Lead Pl 206.9
Manganese Mn 55
Nickel Ni 58.7
Niobium Nb 93.7
Nitrogen N 14.04
Oxigen O 16
Phosphorus P 31
Platinum Pt 195
Selenium Se 79.2
Silicon Si 28.4
Silver Ag 107.93
Sulphur S 32.06
Tellurium Te 127.5
Tin Sn 119
Tungsten W 184
Uranium U 240
Vanadium V 51.4
Zinc Zn 65.4


Excerpt from The Copper Handbook 1903, Vol. III for the year 1902, page 27


More than 2000 copper mines in all parts of the world
Scripophily auctioneers and a few blessed collectors use the book for researching companies. The 1903 issue contains 2207 company profiles. Most of the mines included are located in the USA, others are active in the following countries: Argentina, Austria, Australia, Algeria, Bolivia, Canada, Chili, Cuba, France, India, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Rhodesia, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK and much more, even Sudan and New Caledonia. Many company descriptions span tens of lines, sometimes several pages. As an example, I included the profile of the Parrot Silver and Copper Company:


share certificate of the Parrot Silver and Copper Company
Parrot Silver and Copper Company
shares of 10 Dollars, issued in 1904, Butte, Montana
printed by Western Banknote Company, Chicago
In the Copper Handbook Vol. III the company
was ranked 25th in the list of largest copper producers.
double-click image to enlarge

PARROT SILVER & COPPER CO. - MONTANA
Mine office: Butte, Silver Bow Co., Montana. Harry A. Galway, superintendent. Has a stock issue of 230,000 shares, bulk of which is held by the Amalgamated Copper Co. This company is mixed up to some extent in the litigation that is so unpleasant a feature of mining operations in Butte. Principal mines are the Little Minah and Parrot, opened circa 1884. Company holds 19 claims in all, mostly well located. A barren zone occurs at a depth of about 1,000' , but good ore bodies are found below. Production is at the rate of about 12,000,000 pounds yearly. The ores carry fair values in silver and gold, as well as copper. Mine employs 300 to 400 men, when working full force. The Little Minah mine has a 1,000' two-compartment shaft connected underground with the Nipper. The Parrot mine is about 1,700' deep, main shaft having 3 compartments to 400' level and 4 compartments below, connected underground with Colusa-Parrot, Never Sweat, Nipper and Original mines.

detail from share certificate depicting parrot and ingot
detail from the Parrot Silver and Copper Company's stock certificate
vignette of a brainy parrot claiming his ingot (I want a parrot like that)


This book is encyclopedic
Do you know the meaning of following terms or expressions? Watch out! I can not pronounce some of these words I. Don't hurt yourself in the act.
  • pertenencia: one mineral claim in Mexico; area, one hectare or 2,471 acres
  • cutting down: when a shaft is enlarged, work begins at the top, and the work of enlargement is called cutting down
  • dognacskaite: a sulphide of bismuth and copper; carrying about 12% copper; from Hungary
  • pinching out: the narrowing of a vein to extinction

When was the first copper shipment from the Australian continent ? Answer: 1843
What was the world's largest mine in the early 1900s ? Answer: The Anaconda Copper Mining Company, Butte, Montana, producing more than 100,000,000 Pounds in 1901.