Taxonomy of a certificate : Iowa Union Telephone and Telegraph Company

 

Taxonomy : the practice of describing, identifying, naming, and classifying things on the basis of characteristics

Suppose you collect LP records. You could describe each one of these with characteristics such as the name of the album, name of the performer, release date, etc. Using a predefined list of characteristics makes it easy to register your collectibles in a document, a spreadsheet, or any other database application. 

As far as antique securities are concerned, you can define as many characteristics as you need. I usually consider two groups of characteristics : 

• those that you derive from the certificate's appearance: physical characteristics
• and those that you get after more research: researched characteristics.

As an example I use a stock certificate from the Iowa Union Telephone and Telegraph Company. 

Iowa Union Telephone and Telegraph Company 

share certificate, 1883 

Physical characteristics

• Issuer : Iowa Union Telephone and Telegraph Company
• Type :  share 
• Denomination : $100 shares 
• Capital/Principal : not mentioned 
• Issue date : 20th July, 1883
• Place of issue : Davenport, Iowa
• Registered or bearer : registered 
• Lifecycle status : issued and uncancelled
• Printer : Egbert, Fidlar & Chambers 
• Colors : black, gold 
• Design & vignettes : gold underprint of wall-mounted telephone, border with flowers in corners, horseshoe under title
• Engraver : none mentioned
• Artist : none mentioned
• Language : English
• Security features 
• seal : embossed seal with company name (lower left  corner)
• watermark : none
• Notable person (signed by, issued to, transferred to) : none
• Format : horizontal
• Medium carrier : paper
• Special remarks :  inscription in telephone vignette mentioning Ezra Gilliland

Researched characteristics  

• Country of issuance  : USA 
• Place of operations : Davenport, Iowa
• Country of operations : USA
• Type of operations : telephone business, telegraph business
• Era : Gilded Age

Once you have specified a certificate's characteristics, you can use that information to find out more about the certificate, its issuer or the notable persons involved. Here's what I found.

A pioneering telephone company 

The first commercial telephone exchange started operating in the late 1870s at New Haven. This share was issued by another one of the early telephone companies:  the Iowa Union Telephone and Telegraph Company (IUTTC). The company was established in 1883. 

In 1885 IUTTC, connecting nearly 2000 miles of poles with over 2600 miles of wire, operated 45 exchanges and 247 toll stations - what we would call "pay phones" today. 

The Bell Telephone Company owned $1,000,000, one third, of the company's capital stock in 1886. IUTTC merged with the Iowa and Minnesota Telephone Company into the Iowa Union Telephone Company on 31 January, 1887. 

This successor company was consolidated in 1896 together with the Central Union Telephone Company of Chicago, into a new company, the Iowa Telephone Company. In 1920 it became the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company. 

Inventor and entrepreneur Ezra Torrence Gilliland (1845-1903)

It is a good idea to check out vignettes on historic stock certificates in detail. In this case the share tells us also the story of Ezra T. Gilliland. The telephone, printed in gold underprint, bears a plate. I scanned that part of the image at 1200 DPI. The plate says: 

Gillilands Patent

Western Electric Co.

Indianapolis, Ind.

Ezra Gilliland started his career first as a telegraph operator and became interested in telephone equipment. He invented an improved telephone switchboard and the magneto bell. In 1879 he organized his Indianapolis Telephone Company. 

Western Electric obtained a majority control in Gilliland's company in 1881, the same year when Bell acquired Western Electric. WE supplied Bell of telephones and telephone equipment. Gilliland's switchboards were used in several European countries too. WE's plant in Indianapolis would become the largest telephone maker in the world in the 1960s. 

After working for Bell, Gilliland became a business partner of his close friend Thomas Edison. 

F.L.

Related links

• A history of the telephone in the Midwest (1875-1920), Robert H. Christie, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 1954 
• The New York Times, March 15, 1886 
• BooneShares, catalog auction 31 October 2020  

Previous posts 

• Buckle up! Scripophily magazine brings you into the world of antique stocks and bonds 
• Referenskatalog Svenska Aktiebrev 

Buckle up! Scripophily magazine brings you into the world of antique stocks and bonds

Compelling tales, business plot twists and memorable personalities keep you spellbound. Scripophily magazine uncovers the stories of historic and artistic securities. In addition, reports from the auction markets help you to stay up-to-date. This periodical is the flagship of The International Bond and Share Society (IBSS) and appears three times a year.

In Scripophily magazine you'll find out about the latest discoveries. This rare share certificate realized £160 at SPINK's May 2020 auction. The most famous restaurant not only in Paris but also in the world, Maxim's was in 1926 owned by this British company. 

Scripophily magazine is the world’s most comprehensive and insightful publication for passionate collectors and researchers of antique securities. Its 2020 August issue brings 50 pages of scripophily news, in depth articles, pictures of collector friends, auction reports and quality images of stunning, historic and rare stocks and bonds. 

Here is a summary on the topics brought in the latest issue :

• The History of Worldwide Scripophily Auctions, a review of Tim Welo's book 
• Buying on Time, Was this share certificate bought on margin?, about the Lake Superior Iron and Chemical Company (NY)
• Western Union Telegraph Company, letter to the editor about Gandhi and India's independence struggle 
• Collectors Clearinghouse, learn about the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company
• Nothing New about FaceTime or Zoom, the American Televue Company
• Dow Jones, a History of Dow Jones Averages Since 1884, review of Dr. Peter Jones' book  
• Large Scale Snubbing went on in Cleveland in the 1920s, brings the story on The Gabriel Snubber Manufacturing Company
• Misadventures in Mining : Dutch Investors and R. G. Dun at the Caribou Mine 
• A Visit to the New York Stock Exchange Archives
• (Kaiser) Ferdinand's Nordbahn
• Watermarks in Scripophily, part 1 introduction
• The Dow Jones Company and its Averages, extract from Dr Peter Jones' book
• Pacific Mail Steamship, idem
• Johan Colenbrander and Colenbranders Matabeleland Development Company
• My British Railway Treasure, a testimony on collecting early British railway scripophily

Scripophily magazine, August 2020, features on its front cover a Isaac Newton signed document subscribing to shares in the South Sea Company. This unique and historic document from 1720 recently emerged at an American auction. 

Subscribing to Scripophily magazine brings you valuable free extras :

1. The IBSS Directory brings you in contact with fellow collectors. Many of those are experts in their field, often share common interests with you, and possibly live nearby. The Directory contains members from more than 40 countries.
2. The Newsletter, so you may keep up with what is going on.
3. Access to all content on the IBSS website, including digital versions of previous issues of Scripophily magazine, the online forum, special theme galleries, and the like.
4. Newsflashes on the website focus on hot topics that can't wait for the next issue of the magazine.
5. Get extra credibility : being listed as a member is a good reference in any deals made remotely with parties previously unknown.

A 1-year subscription only costs £20 or $32 or €25. The magazine is published by IBSS. More info : https://scripophily.org/membership/join/

F.L.

Related links

• International Bond and Share Society 
• What is Scripophily, a quick introduction

FHW sells Chinese scripophily collection

Freunde Historischer Wertpapiere has scheduled its 118th auction for October 3rd 2020. This time more than 1,500 lots of antique securities will go under the hammer including the China collection of former Volkswagen CFO Dr. Werner P. Schmidt.

This scripophily event starts off with more than 300 American lots with the emphasis on US railway stocks and bonds.

A stunning print, this share from the Alaska Central Railway Company was issued in 1903. Engraved by the Seattle Engraving Company and printed by Yerkes Printing Company, it shows a full map of Alaska with the proposed route of the railroad and where timber, coal, gold, copper and quartz were to be found. Click the image to enlarge and note the area on top of the map designated as 'UNEXPLORED'. Lot 3 in the auction 

China collectors and investors will be interested in the collection of Dr. Werner P. Schmidt, recently deceased, and former CFO of Volkswagen AG. The series starts with lot 325, a share from the Aka-Dine Wood Production Company, and features several more shares from Taiwan. 

The Schmidt collection also counts several external loans from China. A £1000 bond from The Chinese Central Government Loan aka Arnold Karberg Loan III, only 300 issued, very rare, is one of the highlights and is expected to realize €5000. Lot 334 in the sale.

Chinese Government 23rd Year (1934) 6% Sterling Indemnity Loan for £1,500,000 

The Republic of China (ROC) was based in mainland China between 1912 and 1949, before the relocation of its government to the island of Taiwan. This £1000 bond shows the portrait of Sun Yat-Sen, Provisional President of the ROC. It was issued to finance the completion of the Canton-Hankow Railway. Part of the Dr. Werner P. Schmidt Collection and lot 338 in the auction.

Detail from lot 411, a share from the Kuangtun Canton-Hankow Railway Company (Kwong-Tung Yueh-Han), from the Dr. Werner P. Schmidt Collection. 

Germany gets the "lion's share" of the auction. Nearly 900 lots are divided over two sections, Deutschland (pre Deutsche Mark) and DM (from 1945 onwards). Note that both contain a subsection with 20 highlight picks from the auctioneer.

Offered as lot 1005 this 25 Reichsthaler Gold share in the Aper Canal-Gesellschaft was issued in 1849, Westerstede. The vignette is drawn by the artist A. Gordes. 

The catalog's table of contents reveals that scripophily from other countries is there as well. Nearly 100 lots represent the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Indexes on collecting themes, such as Art Nouveau, and German regions, may help you find what you are looking for.

Szeged is now one of the largest cities in Hungary. This share in the Szeged-Alsótanyai Népbank , or People's Bank of Szeged-Alsótanyai, was issued in 1906 when Szeged was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A great example of Szecesszió, the Hungarian Art Nouveau variant. Lot 569 

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

• Location : The event takes place at Wolfenbüttel, however, at the time of writing, due to the covid-19 situation personal presence is likely not possible. Check out whether a visit is possible with the auction house. 
• Date : 3 October, 2020
• Further info, see here; PDF catalog see there; live bidding is possible through https://connect.invaluable.com/dwa/ 

"You will find happiness and joie de vivre while sleeping in a Steiner Paradies bed"

Now that's what we call maintaining a successful house-style. The Vienna subsidiary of the Paradiesbettenfabrik Steiner reused the photovignette from an earlier advertising campaign on its 1924 share. The Paradies brand still exists today. Lot 557 in the sale. 

F.L.

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