FHW auction features more than 1500 historic bonds and shares including several German collections

Freunde Historischer Wertpapiere (FHW) has scheduled its 124th sale for October 7, 2023. This time the auctioneer selected more than 1500 lots of historic bonds and share certificates. Major sections have been reserved for scripophily from the USA, Germany, the German DM era, and a series of more than 300 lots from other countries.

One of the auction's highlights is this gorgeous share from the Société des Fermes Réunies du Kurhaus et de la Banque de Nauheim Hesse Électorale. It was the Frenchman Jacques Roland Viali who founded the casino and the accompanying health resort. In addition to the roulette hall, there was also a reading room, a concert hall and a dance hall. Spa guests strolled in the adjoining parc around the large pond and boats were purchased to provided more entertainment. Within a year after its opening, 1 Jan 1854,  Nauheim received city rights, and soon new avenues were constructed. Few companies would change a town's history so quickly. This 1854 share, with Viali signature, is part of the Deutschland Top 20 chapter and starts at €2,600. L(ot) 626 in the auction

Traditionally FHW is know for its strong emphasis on German scripophily. On top of that, several collections are now going under the hammer. The Hans-Werner Schmidt collection of Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) features 338 certificates in 146 lots from all themes, including brewery shares, such as L162, a rare share from the Erste Bamberger Export-Bierbrauerei Frankenbrau. 

Collectors of DM securities will be pleased to find a large section in the catalog counting almost 400 lots of securities from the Deutsche Mark era. However, this SchmidtBank KGaA 1000 shares certificate, is part of the Hans-Werner Schmidt Oberfranken collection, L225. Bidding starts at €500. 

The USA forms the largest non-German chapter in the sale with about 200 lots such as:

• L1350, Barkley-Grow Aircraft Corp, stock certificate, 1936, airplane vignette, €240 
• L1419, Massachusetts Fish Co, specimen share, 1907, crowded harbour scene, €100 
• L1461, Petaluma and Sebastopol Railroad, stock certificate, 1889, rare, €600 

The Sebago and Long-Pond Steam-Navigation Company built its Fawn steamboat in 1847. It had a shallow hull to navigate Maine's winding Songo River, with passengers asked to shift sides as ballast to keep both paddlewheels in the water around sharp curves. This 1848 share features three vignettes, two paddlewheel steamers and a church, and a green company seal. L1483, €400 

There is a lot more to discover in the sale, so here are the details :

• Date : 7 October, 2023
• Location : Wolfenbüttel 
• Further info, see here; PDF catalog see there; live bidding is possible through https://connect.invaluable.com/dwa/  

F.L.

The Compagnie des Indes Orientales : Boone reveals the oldest share ever auctioned in upcoming international collectors event

Mario Boone is a major player in the field of antique share certificates and financial documents. The auctioneer scheduled his 67th scripophily auction and bourse on 16 and 17 October 2021. On the agenda are about 1400 scripophily lots that will go on the block in Antwerp.

Boone succeeded in compiling exceptional rare and beautiful stocks and bonds from all continents, such as the oldest share to be auctioned, the oldest French railway share, a share purchased by Nobel prize laureate Max Planck, and many more amazing historic securities like this one.

Prior to the late 1890s color photography was the domain of a small number of researchers that build their own equipment. This share from 1897 is signed by the Belgian color photography pioneer Louis Ernest Dugardin who invented one of the first commercially available color cameras in the world. He founded in 1897 the Paris based Société Nationale de la Photographie des Couleurs et de Reproductions Artistiques Procédés L. Dugardin. This share was designed by the French Belle Epoque artist Lucien Métivet and printed by Imprimerie G. Richard. An amazing document, L(ot) 557 in the sale starts at €2000.

I'll point of out some more highlights of the sale in a moment, but first I'll say something about the bulky auction catalog that counts over 200 pages of data and images. Auction lots are grouped first by region, then by country. The main index lists over 90 countries. Large sections include Belgium, France, Russia, Germany, USA, Spain, Egypt, China, Great Britain and Italy. Collectors of scripophily from seldom-seen places like Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Ghana, Monaco, Martinique, etc, will be surprised by what's going under the hamer.

The Monte Toro Fábrica de Quesos operated on the island of Menorca. This share shows scenes from the town of Es Mercadal at the foot of the Monto Toro, the highest point on the island, a woman making cheese, and grazing cows. The certificate was printed in 1901 in Barcelona by Imp. Luis Tasso. L1075 in the auction, bids accepted from €100 onwards. 

So, what about the top item of the sale ? Well, it's a share from the Compagnie des Indes Orientales issued more than 350 years ago in 1665. That was an eventful year :  the Second Anglo-Dutch War begins, King Charles II of England leaves London fleeing the Great Plague, the Qing invasion of Taiwan fails due to a typhoon, and the Compagnie des Indes Orientales sends twenty settlers to start the colonisation of Réunion.

 

The Compagnie des Indes Orientales was founded by Jean-Baptiste Colbert on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English and Dutch colonial trading companies. The company was granted a 50-year monopoly of French trade in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Straits of Magellan, with a concession in perpetuity for Madagascar and ‘all other islands and lands it could conquer’ (*).  The company also had to build churches and train priests in its territories. Several ‘comptoirs’ were established in various parts of India such as Puducherry and Chandannagar. 

This share of 6000 French Livres, 2000 Livres been paid, unique and of great historic importance, is the earliest share ever auctioned. Bids for L467 start at €44,000 

(*) The Compagnie des Indes, by Howard Shakespeare, Journal of the IBSS, Feb 1997 

At the end of the printed catalog, you'll find a list with over 100 indexes on themes, Belgian provinces, famous signatures, artists and printing companies. On top of that you can search through the online version with keywords.

There is nothing as fascinating as antique securities produced in gold print. A search through the digital catalog on keywords like "gold print", "printed in gold" and "gold, black" (co-occuring colors), yield some great results. You should see these. I've listed them by start price in ascending order : 

• €30, L440 Basilique de Sainte Thérèse de l'Enfant-Jésus à Lisieux, 1933, Lisieux, Calvados
• €40, L1173 The Port Rowan and Lake Shore Railway Company, 1880s, Port Dover, Ontario
• €80, L702 Cooperative des Médecins et Pharmaciens de Grèce, 1924, Athens (see image below)
• €200, L230 Szegedi Kereskedelmi es Iparbank, 1909, Szegeden, Hungary
• €200, L524 Compagnie L'Union Service par Bateaux à Vapeur et Autres, 1840, Rouen, France
• €1000, L459 Casino et Concerts Paganini, 1837, Paris
• €1200, L1274 The Gold Mining Company, 1888, registered in West Virginia, mines at Mojave County, Arizona
• €2000, L758 Barkschip: Grootmeester Nationaal, 1857, Dordrecht
• €2000, L1169 Great Cariboo Gold Company, 1905, New York, but operations in British Columbia, Canada

L702 is a wonderful 5 shares certificate in the Cooperative des Médecins et Pharmaciens de Grèce. Issued in 1924, Athens, and produced in gold print. 

Boone auctions always include scripophily related to that little country somewhere near the center of Europe, Belgium (about 220 lots). Here are some interesting lots from that chapter in the sale :

• L234 Algemeene Nederlandsche Maatschappij ter Begunstiging van de Volksvlijt, a Dutch share from 1825 to finance a new canal between Pommeroeul and Antoing (Hainaut province) 
• L241 the oldest certificate seen, a bond, from A.C.E.C., and highly decorative too
• L245 Société Européenne d'Automobiles, 1898, far ahead of its time targeting the European market, rare and prehistoric automobile manufacturer 

I didn't know that Belgium once tried to colonize Guatemala, did you ? Here's a share, L292, in the Compagnie Belge de Colonisation, Communauté de l'Union, issued in 1844. The company was founded with the help of King Leopold I of Belgium to administer Santo-Thomas de Guatemala, today known as Santo Tomàs de Castilla, Puerto Barrios. Leopold's goal was not only to exploit rich natural resources, but also to reduce crime in Belgium by sending the unemployed, the underprivileged and adventurers to the "promised land of Verapaz".  Many colonists died in the harsh conditions and the project was given up after 20 years. A rare object of Belgian international history, bidding starts at €200.

There is a lot more to discover in the auction. I almost forgot, if you are into Russian scripophily, then don't forget to check out that chapter as well. It includes interesting railway certificates but also a large section of Russian banking and credit securities. 

Before giving you further details and links for the event, I'll end this post with an incredibly beautifully produced work. Extremely rare and of historic economic importance, L451 is a share in the Chemin de Fer de Paris à St. Cloud et Versailles - Rive Droite de la Seine, the oldest French steam-powered railway. The share dates from 1837 and is signed by politician and financier Emile Pereire.

The auction catalog fully describes the history of this French railway company, the Chemin de Fer de Paris à St. Cloud et Versailles. Click the image above and below to see more details of this wonderful print. In the detail below, you see two angels below a column. They present the coat of arms of Paris. Above and at the left of the figures you can detect two light grey rosettes. All those details are produced in such a way that it gives the viewer a feeling of depth just like the raised relief on a medal. But that is only an optical illusion. In fact, the only color used for this print is black. The certificate's design was created by the best engraver of its time, Jacques-Jean Barre, who designed and engraved the first postage stamps of France. He was master engraver at the Monnaie de Paris producing designs for coins and medals. Absolutely stunning. Start price of L451 is €12,000.

Even if you are not a collector the weekend of 16 and/or 17 October is an opportunity to see some great antique securities. As for me, I am looking forward to meet again collector friends that I haven't seen for a long time. Here are the details :

• Location : Antwerp, Belgium
• Dates
• 16 October 2021, Boone's 67th live and internet auction
• 17 October 2021, bourse of historic bonds and shares
• Further info : 
• online catalog & bidding, see here 
• or via the Invaluable platform (large images), see there 
• and the PDF version of the catalog can be found here 

F.L.

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Belgian Association for Scripophily exists 40 years

The Belgian Association for Scripophily, in French: Association Belge de Scriptophilie (ABS), in Dutch : Belgische Vereniging van Scriptophilie (BVS), is a non-profit society that was founded 40 years ago in 1980. Ever since, the society's members gather once a month, to share news and discuss findings in our field of collection.

Two years ago member Denis Sagaert took the initiative to publish a free scripophily newsletter. More than reason enough to have a talk with him ! For the occassion, Denis choose the images for this post.

Alfred Van Neste (1874-1969) created the design for the founders share in the Société Anversoise de Cartonnages & Biseautages. The company, founded in 1899, was a book producer and publishing company from Antwerp. Van Neste, a landscape painter, illustrator and engraver, became one of Antwerp's most known poster designers. Click the image to enlarge and discover several illustrations from stages in early book production. The drawings are so prominent that the Art Nouveau elements in the border nearly escape our attention. Just below the rooster in the upper left corner you'll find 'SACB', the company's cypher (an interlacing or placing together of letters).

FL Denis, welcome to our virtual studio. How did you become a collector of antique securities ?

Denis I bought my first old shares in 2004 at a flea market in Brussels. As an  asset manager I was already very familiar with bonds and shares, but I had no clue about 'scripophily'. Two years later, I read a newspaper article written by the chairman of the Belgian society. I then became a member.

FL Do you collect certain themes ? 

Denis Yes, my main themes are Belgian-Russian shares, Belgian tramways and Belgian mining companies.

The Solvay company is a global player in the chemical and pharmaceutical business. The brothers Ernest Solvay and Alfred Solvay founded the company in 1863 to produce sodium carbonate by the Solvay proces. The vignette on the left is derived from the company's 50th anniverary medal made in 1913 by Belgian sculptor and medalist Victor Rousseau. In 1938 a similar, much larger bronze plaque made by Rousseau, was delivered for the Solvay memorial monument in Rebecq, the birthplace of the brothers. This bearer share dates from 1967, the year of Solvay's first public offering of shares to the public.

FL Denis, can you tell something about ABS/BVS ?

Denis Our association was founded in 1980 when scripophily was still a young hobby. ABS/BVS is a non-profit organization. Once a month we gather in Jezus-Eik, close to Brussels, and hold an auction for members. Occasionally, non-members are allowed to take part in a special auction either on-site or through submission of email bids. Also, people who still own some old cancelled bonds and shares, can contact our chairman for value estimations. They can also consign their 'non-valeurs' for sale at the club auction.

FL How many members does the society has ? 

Denis We have about 25 members.

FL I've seen that the newsletter is mainly written in French. Do most members speak French ?

Denis There are a little more French speakers. We have a small group of members from France! But there is no big difference with the number of Dutch speakers.

Banker André Langrand-Dumonceau founded in 1863 the Banque de Crédit Foncier et Industriel. From the 1850s through the 1860s Langrand-Dumonceau tried to build a major Catholic financial group in Europe to counterbalance the so-perceived Jewish dominance in the financial sector. He became manager of tens of financial companies. He founded Royale Belge, one of the largest Belgian insurance companies. Pope Pius IX, King Leopold of Belgium, Napoleon III of France, and other European notables supported Langrand-Dumonceau's activities. However, by 1870, his financial empire collapsed and he fled to the USA. Langrand-Dumonceau signed this 1863 certificate for 20 shares of 500 Francs. 

FL Denis, the society has an interesting website. What does it offer ?

Denis The site hosts a very extensive online database of antique securities (*). Of course, you can find information about our club and our hobby. In case of a 'special auction', we put the auction catalog online as well.
(*) Editor's note: you can search among more than 40,000 bonds and shares

FL You decided to publish a newsletter. What is it about ?

Denis We have a lots of resources on Belgian business histories, like the Moniteur and Recueil Financier year books. We bring topics on Belgian scripophily. In cases where a foreign company has a Belgian connection, eg. through its shareholders, then we might bring topics on foreign corporations too. In all cases, the content should be a combination of financial history and known bonds and shares.

FL Denis, was there a particular reason to start the newsletter ?

Denis Well, in the first place, we hope our members find it interesting, but publishing a newsletter is also a great way to give visibility to our association. The number of collectors in Belgium is diminishing. Hopefully, we can attract new members with this project.

L'Ikelemba was an agricultural and trading company, especially in rubber. The company's assets were located in the Ikelemba river bassin, in today's Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Lithographie du "Messager de Bruxelles" produced this share from 1898, a great example of a chromolithograph. Instead of using techniques like intaglio printing (e.g. engraving) or raised relief (wood-cut), this printing process was based on a flat surface printing method. The drawing was made on a special stone. By means of chemicals, ink was attracted by the drawing and repelled from the surrounding areas. In the case of multiple colors, separate stones were used for each color. A single print went through the press separately for each 'color' stone. The big challenge was to keep the resulting color prints aligned to form a unified image.  

FL I can't resist asking the next question, I'm a bad person, but what is your favorite certificate ? 

Denis Hm ... one of my favorites is a L'Ikelemba, action de dividende, from 1898 and extremely decorative.

FL Denis, I want to thank you for this interview and wish you success with the newsletter. 

Related links

• Interested collectors can subscribe to the free ABS/BVS newsletter by contacting the society at scripophilybe@gmail.com 
• Association Belge de Scripophilie (ABS), Belgische Vereniging van Scriptophilie (BVS) 

F.L.

Razor pioneer for sale at Archives International Auctions

Archives International Auctions' next sale is set for October 10, 2019. This live and online sale counts 1187 lots of American and worldwide banknotes, bonds and shares and security printing ephemera.  More than 500 lots of antique bonds and shares from the USA, China, Russia, Mexico and many more countries are ready to be hammered in AIA's offices in River Edge, New Jersey.

The American Bank Note Company 

"comprising American Bank Note Co, National Bank Note Co, Continental Bank Note Co"

Consolidated Agreement 1904 specimen stock certificate

Lot 584 in the auction, includes a 1859 letter announcing the merger of ABN's predecessors 

Lot 338 comprises a 25,000 Rubles - high denomination - specimen bond from the Imperial Russian Government 5.5% Short Term War Loan 1916.

This event features part 1 of the Stephen Beck Collection of railroad bonds and shares, as well as  additional selections from the John E. Herzog Collection. These items, extremely rare if not unique, have been put together over several decades. 

The Staten Island Railway Company

First Mortgage Gold 4.5% $1000 specimen bond, 1893, lot 1055

from the Stephen Beck Collection

Durham Duplex Razor Company, 1908 specimen stock certificate, vignette of man shaving with text "The Correct Diagonal Stroke". Founded in New York, 1908, the company started manufacturing in Mystic, New Jersey. Two years later another production plant was set up in Sheffield, UK, which still exists today. Ex John E. Herzog Collection, lot 672 in the sale

Many more wonderful antique securities can be seen in the auctioneer's catalog. Practical info :

• Date : October 10, 2019
• Location : River Edge, New Jersey
• More info : see here, live and absentee bidding there, 
• PDF auction catalog : here 

F.L.

Beautiful Contagious Scripophily at AIA's 45th Sale

Spread over two sessions, Archives International Auctions 45th Sale features banknotes, coins, security printing ephemera, historic documents and autographs. Over 180 lots of U.S., Chinese & worldwide scripophily are included. One of many fascinating lots is a proof Contagious Disease Hospital Bond of the City of Detroit. Unknown to the collector's market, only one hundred of these bonds were issued in 1908 as part of a $100,000 loan. This unique proof is likely the only remaining scripophily from this part of Detroit's modern history. 

Contagious Disease Hospital Bond of the City of Detroit 

$1000 3.5% Coupon Bond, 1908, printer proof 

large vignette of boats out on lake
seal of the city of Detroit (left) and of the state of Michigan (right)

A printer proof, which is basically a printed prototype, 
usually bears  the original notes from the printing company 
regarding specifications of certificate.

Despite an attractive interest rate and the full guarantee by the city of Detroit, the hospital loan was not popular. The Detroit Free Press, May 21, 1908 reports : 

"A healthy tone in the local money market was indicated by the bids opened yesterday by Controller Doremus for the $249,000 of public school bonds and the $100.000 of contagious disease hospital bonds. The school bonds, paying interest at the rate of 3.5 per cent, were over subscribed, ... . A feature of the bidding was that there were practically no offers for the hospital bonds except one made by the city sinking fund commission at par, although the full credit of the city of Detroit is pledged equally in both cases, and one bond as good as the other in point of security, rate of interest and every other respect. "It is all in the name," said Matthew Finn, representing one of the bidders. "A public school bond has a good reputation and is easy to sell, while a contagious disease hospital bond makes one think of the smallpox and other disagreeable things. Some people might even be afraid of catching the measles by handling one of the documents." 

Mr. Finn's statements may sound bizarre but were relevant to Detroit at the time. Smallpox plagued the city since the 1830s. A city hospital, operated by the Sisters of Charity to care for patients with contagious diseases, was destroyed by fire in 1892. To continue the care for patients the city's Health Board leased a steamboat, the Milton D. Ward Contagious Disease Hospital, for two years until a small hospital building was erected to treat smallpox patients. Due to more outbreaks of smallpox, tuberculosis and other diseases, construction of a more suitable facility started in the 1900s. In 1911 the first two pavilions of a new Contagious Disease Hospital were opened which became known as the Herman Kiefer Hospital for Contagious Disease.

U.S., Chinese & Worldwide 
Banknotes, Coins, Scripophily and 
Security Printing Ephemera and Autographs

Auction details

• Location : Fort Lee, New Jersey
• Dates : 16 November 2017
• Further info : see AIA , online catalogue here and PDF version there 

F.L.

A Pharaonic Collection of Egyptian Scripophily

The Egypt Stock Exchange
In 1883, the Alexandria Stock Exchange, located at the Mohammed Ali Square, was officially established mainly for handling transactions in cotton. Until the 1950's most trading will be done with the Liverpool Cotton Exchange. Around the 1900's agricultural and real estate projects were in development all over Egypt triggering the corresponding infrastructure projects and vice versa. In 1903 the old premises of the Ottoman Bank on Maghraby Street were chosen for the temporarily headquarters of the Bourse and Banking Company of Egypt Ltd, also known as the Bourse Khediviale du Caire, the Cairo Stock Exchange.

With a booming economy, both exchanges rated quickly among the world's top five stock exchanges with over 200 companies traded on the Cairo Bourse alone. In 1996 the Cairo and Alexandria stock exchanges where unified into the Egypt Stock Exchange. Both have the same board of directors and share the same trading, clearing and settlement systems.

Source: History of the Egyptian Stock Exchange, see here .

Egyptian Guaranteed 3% Loan 1887
Bond of 1000 Pounds, specimen
double-click to enlarge image
source: www.scripocollections.com

A grandiose scripophily collection from Egypt

In April 2013 a collection of Egyptian securities was auctioned by the auctioneer Boone. Brought together by the seller over a time span of tens of years, the collection includes almost 1000 shares and bonds from almost 500 companies representing all major industries : from land development, sugar and textile industry, by railroads, shipping and canal building to metallurgical industry, consumer products, telecommunication and tourism. The collection also includes a wide variety of Egyptian government bonds. Spanning two centuries, the certificates also illustrate changes of cultural influences and economic power : for example, many securities have bilingual text, English-Arabic or French-Arabic, while others are only in English, French or Arabic.

Import and Production of Pharmaceuticals SAE Co.
10 Shares of 10 Egyptian Pounds, 1974
-
underprint of laboratory flasks surrounding the “Bowl of Hygeia”,
the pharmacist's symbol (a bowl with the serpent of wisdom)
double-click to enlarge image
source: www.scripocollections.com 

The collection was not sold in the auction and is still available. The entire collection is on view on the auctioneer's ScripoCollections.Com site.

F.L.

My share in the 1945 Red Cross War Fund

"I hereby subscribe to shares in the 1945 Red Cross War Fund 
as my contribution to the work of the Red Cross in disaster relief, 
prisoner of war services, home front activities, personal aid for servicemen, 
blood plasma, foreign war relief and rehabilitation."

double-click image to enlarge

Contribute and share

Three words instantly stand out when you see the certificate above : SHARE - RED - CROSS. Its message can not be misunderstood and it is packaged as a share certificate. Yet the share is not a real one, it does not represent any kind of ownership in a company, nor does it entitle its holder any legal rights associated with it. This piece of paper was actually used as a receipt of a contribution in the American Red Cross 1945 War Fund.

Clara Barton founds the American Red Cross

With the emergence of the American Civil War, Clara Barton, born 1821 in North Oxford, Massachusetts, dedicated herself to aid soldiers on the front. Before, women had not been allowed in hospitals, camps or on battlefields. The military and civil officials refused her help. However, Clara, very determined, gained the trust of them. She began receiving camp and hospital supplies from all over the country. Soon she obtained assistants and nurses and even military trains for her work on the front. Know as "The angel of the battlefield", she practiced nursing on the battlefield, experiencing the horrors of war.

For health reasons, Clara Barton went to Europe in 1869 and became involved in the work of International Red Cross volunteers during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). She decided to bring that organization to America. On May 1881, Barton and her associates established the American Red Cross and she became the ARC's first President. Next she adopted the framework of the Red Cross to fit the needs of the United States not only during wartime but also in times of other calamities such as famines, floods, earthquakes, cyclones, and pestilence. The ARC undertook its first major relief effort aiding victims of the Great Fire of 1881 in the Thumb region of Michigan. In 1884 the Geneva Convention passed the "American Amendment" to include the concept of peacetime assistance. The first wartime experience for the American Red Cross was in the Spanish-American War in 1898. Clara Barton then sailed to Havana, Cuba, with supplies for victims. 

Clara Barton, circa 1878, wearing the Official German Red Cross Field Badge 

received from her 1870-1871 service during the Franco-Prussian War. 

Source : Wikipedia, image by volunteer B. Douglas, Clara Barton National Historic Site

American Red Cross launches a massive campaign at the end of WWII

In 1945, with the World War II nearing its climax, the ARC launched one of its largest campaigns ever. The campaign started on February 28, Red Cross Radio Day, with intensive radio publicity when War Fund messages were broadcast all day. On March 20, President Roosevelt broadcast a Red Cross message from the White House, his last public address over the radio. In 15,000 theaters about 80 million moviegoers saw Ingrid Bergman featuring in an appeal to give to the Red Cross, followed by a collection in the theater.

The publicity program, involving 4 million volunteer workers, produced and disseminated : 

• 3,5 million booklets for volunteer solicitors
• 35 million information leaflets for contributors
• 1,5 million posters for billboards, stores, post offices, etc.
• 84,042 advertisements reaching 2 billion readers
• 2,5 billion radio listener impressions
• 70 magazine features
• 30 magazine front covers
• 234 million movie impressions
• speeches reaching an estimated 1,5 million persons

Movie star Ingrid Bergman,
in Red Cross uniform

Reference catalogue : Swedish Share Certificates Before 1850

• Title : Svenska Aktiebrev Före 1850 - Swedish Share Certificates Before 1850 - Schwedische Aktien Vor 1850
• Authors : Birger Strandberg, Björn Franzén
• ID: ISBN 91-630-0421-6, published by AB Aktiesamlaren BJB, 1991
• Languages : Swedish, English, German
• Number of pages : 220
• Images : mostly in black and white, a few in color, almost on every 2 pages
• Indexes : index by date of issue on page 14

This catalogue gives an overview of Swedish share certificates issued before 1850 :

• 16 shares dated between 1728 and 1799
• 80 shares dated between 1800 and 1850

Many companies listed were active in the field of mining, canals, bridges, banking, shipping, shipyards, early trading companies, health resorts, sports and recreation and many more. Less usual themes included : a billiard club, swimming and horse riding schools, and even a 'share in a stallion' is present.  Many rarities.

F.L.