Friday, April 24, 2020

SPINK's e-Auction of bonds and shares is up and running !

SPINK's Bonds and Share Certificates of the World e-Auction is at present open for bidding. It presents 329 lots of antique bond and share certificates.

The first major section in the sale, over 40 lots of Australian scripophily, starts with a rare share in The Kalgoorlie Electric Tramways, L(ot) 4. Even more rare is a 1891 founders' share from The Midland Railway Company of Western Australia, Ltd, modestly estimated at £120-150, L6. Furthermore, a collection of securities illustrating the Australian land speculation of the 1880’s and the inevitable collapse in 1893 is part of the offerings. 


share from the Federal Bank of Australia signed by James Munro, Premier of Victoria

The Scot James Munro emigrated to Victoria in 1858 where he set up a printing business. He expanded into banking and promoting building societies, became rich, entered politics and engaged in land speculation. In 1881 he founded the Federal Building Society and the Federal Bank of Australia. In 1890 Munro became Premier of Victoria. When the land boom collapsed, his bank was the first bank to fail in the subsequent banking crisis of 1893. Munro's  companies left debts of over ₤600,000. The Australasian newspaper of April 22, 1893, reported that he was attacked and beaten unconscious in a Melbourne street by a man who had been ruined in the crash. 
James Munro signed this 1883 share certificate, L19 in the sale.


The Great Britain and Ireland section counts nearly 70 lots. Some examples 
  • Neptune, a masterpiece vignette from the American Bank Note Company, presents a 1916 $5000 specimen bond from The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, L236.
  • L302 Vauxhall Bridge Company, 1872, with extraordinary copper seal
  • L271 The Greenock Steamship Company Ltd, vignettes of sailing ship and shipping flag, 1882.
There is also a unique group of about ten British Government SPECIMEN bonds, all of which are the only examples known and which should attract many bidders. Unique. As an example, there is L249, a 3% Conversion Loan 1948-1953 £100 specimen bearer bond, London, 1933, facsimile signature of N. K. Warren-Fisher as Treasury secretary, typed letter included.

One of the highlights in the sale is lot 253, a 1835 share from The Blaydon, Gateshead and Hebburn Railway Company.


share on vellum from the Blaydon, Gateshead and Hebburn Railway with engraving from William Collard

The Blaydon, Gateshead and Hebburn Railway Company Act 1834 authorized for the "making and maintaining a railway from Blaydon to Hebburn with six branches thereout, all within the county of Palatine of Durham". The railway was established in 1834, leaving the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway at Blaydon and running eastwards along the river Tyne on its south bank in order to provide an outlet for coal mined in the Tanfield area. With only a small portion of the intended 11 miles built, the Newcastle and Carlisle took over the line in 1836. This share was printed on vellum and issued in 1835 to John Lionel Hood, mayor of Newcastle in 1834-35. Newcastle's Hood street was named after him. 

T. Challoner made this drawing of a steam train with coal wagons, ship at dockside, mine buildings and a windmill in the distance. It was the talented William Collard who engraved this unusual large and detailed vignette. Collard specialized in map and landscape engraving. He engraved a map of Durham in 1834, and in 1841 he published his Architectural and Picturesque Views in Newcastle upon Tyne
Lot 253 in the auction, estimated at £3000-4000. Click image to enlarge


SPINK's e-Auction includes scripophily from countries around the globe, except from the USA which will have its own separate sale at the end of June, says specialist Mike Veissid.

Here are some more  fascinating examples of SPINK's current event  :
  • L153 Kingdom of Denmark, 34 Year 4.5% External Loan Gold Bond of $1000, 1928, facsimile signature of historian and former Prime Minister of Denmark Niels Neergaard, large vignette of the Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament
  • L221 Schlusselbourg Calico Printing Company (Manufacture d'Indiènnes de la Compagnie de Schlusselbourg), 1000 Roubles share, text in Russian, English and French, St. Petersburg, 1869, see also L222 & L223
  • L323 From Colombia, Timbiqui Gold Mines Company Limited, £1 share, 1900, large vignette of gold panning on a riverbank
  • If you are into James Bond, then L78 might be something for you. This debenture from The Cathay Land Company, Limited, was issued to William Johnston Keswick in 1933. Keswick was Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council preceding the Pacific War and survived a murder attempt by the Japanese in Shanghai. He became head of the China Theatre of the Special Operations Executive, Britain's wartime secret service, known as "Churchill's Secret Army". After WW II a part of SOE's personnel became agents of MI6.


10 candareens share in the Semambu Rubber Estates signed by Kadoorie

Several certificates in the sale are issued to or signed by Jewish entrepreneur Eleazor Silas Kadoorie who, together with his brother, made fortune in the banking, rubber, real estate and electric power business.  This share from The Semambu Rubber Estates, Ld., was issued in 1932 and signed by Kadoorie. The company incorporated in Hong Kong and its capital was divided in shares of 10 candareens each. In imperial China, 10 candareens equaled 1 mace which was ​one tenth of a tael. Eleazor Silas Kadoorie imprisoned in 1942 by the Japanese died 2 years later in prison. L97 in the auction.



Make sure you check out more appealing scripophily online. Here are the details :
  • Location : this is an Internet only sale
  • Date : Apr 16 15:00 - May 05 11:00.
  • Further info : see here 



F.L.

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