Spink USA plans its next New York auction in The Numismatic Collector's Series for Oct 30 and Nov 1, 2017. The sale includes coins, decorations, militaria, paper money, antique maps, autographs and other historical documents. Also on the menu are more than fifty, mainly American, bond and share certificates. One of these is a share from The Company for Promoting the Cultivation of Vines in Pennsylvania, one of the earliest wineries in America.
Company for Promoting the Cultivation of Vines in Pennsylvania
Lot 1916, share of $20, issued 1811, embossed seal with a bunch of grapes, surrounded by "SEAL OF THE VINE COMPANY OF PENNSYLVANIA."
click to enlarge
Peter Legaux fled from prerevolutionary France in 1785. He boarded a ship bound for Philadelphia. There he found many compatriots and applied for citizenship. Legaux soon purchased an estate by the Schuykill River at Spring Mill. He discovered that native grapes were prolific and that the soil and climate conditions were comparable to those in Italy and France.
Legaux decided to produce his own wine and established one of the first vineyards in America. The wine he produced was a success. An entry in Legaux’s diary on July 22, 1787 states, “This day General Washington, General Thomas Mifflin and four other members of the Constitutional Convention did the honor of paying us a visit in order to see our vineyard and the bee business.” Peter Legaux could later persuade President Jefferson to support a duty on imported wines to encourage home production.
In 1802, Legaux incorporated The Company for Promoting the Cultivation of Vines in Pennsylvania. The company's first President was Peter Muhlenberg, a Revolutionary Brigadier General at the battles of Brandywine and Yorktown. In the same year Muhlenberg became also Philadelphia's customs collector.
Source: History of the Company for Promoting the Cultivating of Vines in Pennsylvania, Earl Moore, Financial History, Issue 65, 1999, Museum of American Financial History
Auction details
- Location : New York City
- Dates : 30 Oct - 1 Nov 2017
- Further info : see here
F.L.
No comments:
Post a Comment