Experts in mondial automobile and American railroad securities, look out ! F.H.W. kicks off its first online auction

Freunde Historischer Wertpapiere (FHW) has scheduled its next double day sale for June 26-27 2020. A milestone in its history, Jörg Benecke's auction team goes online for the first time with more than 2200 lots of historic bonds and share certificates.

This auctioneer offers a large cross-section of German scripophily, early and modern. On top of that the event features a voluminous American railway section and the wide-reaching automobile collection of Dr. Werner P. Schmidt.

FHW's 117th auction opens with a classic in scripophily, a share in the Compagnie Impériale des Chemins de Fer Éthiopiens. Every auction participant will be able to bid on this stunning print from 1899. Each bid will be accepted and guaranteed at the start price. All proceeds goes to the German Church School in Addis Abeba. The school is the first one in Ethiopia in which blind and seeing children are taught jointly. 

image courtesy F.H.W. 

The American railroad section is huge and counts more than 450 lots. Some of the highlights :

• L(ot) 58, California Railway, Oakland, 1897, certificate for 850 shares of $100, representing over 15% of the initial share capital, in numismatic terms ultra-rare, bidding starts at €240.
• L72 Chautauqua Lake Railway Company, 5% $1000 bond, 1887, only 800 issued, printed by the reknown Homer Lee Bank Note Company, N. Y., check the vignette and the artwork on the title.
• George Jay Gould I, investor and railroad executive, eldest son of Jay Gould, purchased in 1895, L162, a share representing 25% of The Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad Co. of 1882. The certificate is signed by him on the reverse. After the death of his first wife, actress Edit M Kingdon, he married his mistress Guinevere J Sinclair and moved to England. Top American railway history, as such, unique.

An example of the many rarities in the US railway section, this $50 shares certificate was issued by the Miami Valley Railway Company in 1877. The company, incorporated in Ohio, 1874, had its shares printed by the Krebs Lithographing Company from Cincinnati. L239 in the auction. 

image courtesy F.H.W. 

Collectors and investors will be interested in an exceptional variety of automobile scripophily. Over 450 lots from the W. P. Schmidt Collection will be offered. Dr. Werner P. Schmidt, recently deceased, was CFO of Volkswagen AG and succeeded in bringing together hundreds of bonds and shares from motorcar companies all over the world.

The collection includes scripophily from all top brands like FIAT, see image here, Benz L972, and Renault, L1239,  which is issued to Louis Renault himself, and many more.

One of the gems in the W. P. Schmidt collection is this 1920 5 x 200 Lire shares certificate from the world famous FIAT company. The name is an abbreviation for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino.  The company soon exported its first cars and in 1910 a plant was built in Poughkeepsie, NY, to produce costly, luxury cars. L1048 in the sale starts at €1500 

image courtesy F.H.W. 

Historic, you could say "archeological", is L1272, a share from the Société des Moteurs Lenoir, 1859, founded by Etienne Lenoir, father of the combustion engine. Even older is L1124, a share certificate, 1835, in the London and Birmingham Steam Carriage Company, which produced steam engine driven cars.

Some more remarkable car builders spotted in the catalog :

• L896 Aachener Stahlwaarenfabrik Fafnir-Werke, 1000 Reichsmark share, 1912. This German company produced the Fafnir automobiles and motorcycles, and also the Omnimobil motor kits allowing others to start motor vehichle production. Rare, bids invited from €500. 
• L1006 Deutsche Last-Automobilfabrik AG, "DAAG", Rating, 1920 
• L1216 RiCHARD Auto Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, 1917. This stock certificate is signed by its founder François Richard. Check out the image in the catalog. You'll note how the brand name was changed into to RiCHARD - with a lower case i - in an attempt to encourage the more correct French-like pronunciation 'ree-SHARd'. An example of small but great automobile history, with an early automobile vignette as well.

Besides the US railway section and the W.P. Schmidt Collection, the 270 pages auction catalog includes the following chapters :

• Confederate States of America
• Germany Pre-1945
• Germany DM era
• Austro-Hungarian Empire/Austria, Switzerland, Italy and several more.

Indexes on collecting themes and German regions may help you find what you are looking for.  I checked out the sports entries and bumped into bobsledding scripophily !

This rare 300 Mark bond from the Herzogliche Bobsleighclub zu Gotha (Ducal Bobsled Club from Gotha) shows the still existing clubhouse. Opened in 1913 its bobsled track was one of the longest in Central Europe at the time with a length of 3600 metres. L1601 in the sale 
image courtesy F.H.W. 

There is a lot to discover in the sale. Here are the details :

• Location : The event takes place at Wolfenbüttel, however, at the time of writing this, due to the covid-19 situation personal presence is likely not possible. Check out whether a visit is possible with the auction house. 
• Date : 26 and 27 June, 2020
• Further info, see here; PDF catalog see there; live bidding is possible through https://connect.invaluable.com/dwa/ 

F.L.