Stock Certificates Collection

1842-1929
1 box (0.25 linear foot)
Call no.: MS 477
rotating decorative images from SCUA collections

Stock certificates and other printed financial instruments became a medium for American corporations to signify their role in an expanding nation and their importance to the American economy. Often elaborately printed, in part to thwart counterfeiters, stock certificates and other financial instruments typically incorporated imagery reflecting their corporate activity, a burgeoning economy, and an the idealized nation.



This small collection of stock certificates and bonds was assembled for their value in illustrating printing history due to their more or less elaborately engraved letterheads and borders. Issued from 1842 to the even of the Great Depression, the collection includes 42 different certificates, plus a handful of duplicates, issued by railroad companies, insurance companies, banks, bridge companies, coal companies, dispatch and transit companies. The illustrations run the gamut from idealized representation of the corporation to symbolic expressions.

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Background

Stock certificates and other printed financial instruments became a medium for American corporations to signify their role in an expanding nation and their importance to the American economy. Often elaborately printed, in part to thwart counterfeiters, stock certificates and other financial instruments typically incorporated imagery reflecting their corporate activity, a burgeoning economy, and an the idealized nation.

Scope of collection

This small collection of stock certificates and bonds was assembled for their value in illustrating printing history due to their more or less elaborately engraved letterheads and borders. Issued from 1842 to the even of the Great Depression, the collection includes 42 different certificates, plus a handful of duplicates, issued by railroad companies, insurance companies, banks, bridge companies, coal companies, dispatch and transit companies. The illustrations run the gamut from idealized representation of the corporation to symbolic expressions.

Inventory

Adelphia Bond and Trust Company (Philadelphia, Pa.): Receipt for payment on first installment for ten shares
1929
1

Engraved border and background in mauve

Bay Ridge Company (Annapolis, Md.)
ca.1880
2

Vignette of shore scene with steamboat; engraved border and value in light brown

Beech Creek Railroad Company
ca.1885
3

Vignette of train at a station; engraved border and seal in brown

Buffalo, Thousand Islands, and Portland Railroad Company
ca.1895
4

Vignette of factory and depot; engraved border and body in rust

Carthage, Watertown and Sackets Harbor R.R. Company (New York)
ca.1895
5

Vignette of state of New York emblem set against a shore scene; engraved border

Central Dock and Terminal Railway Company (New York, N.Y.)
ca.1895
6

Engraved border

Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Chicago Railways Company Cincinnati, Ohio)
ca.1885
7

Vignette of train on riverside;engraved border in brown

Cleveland and Toledo Railroad Company (New York, N.Y.)
ca.1865
8

Vignettes of surveyors at work, train in landscape; engraved border

Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis Railway Company (Cleveland, Ohio)
ca.1885
9

Vignettes of train passing under a stone arch, Company founder, and Clipper ship, with engraved border

Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis Railway Company (Cleveland, Ohio)
ca.1885
10

Vignette of dock scene with inset of wheat; small vignette of train nearing a station; engraved border in dark brown

Fame Insurance Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
ca.1885
11

Engraved vignettes of eagle aerie and dog seated by a factory

Illiana Coal Company (Scotland, Ill.)
ca.1881
12

Not illustrated

Kensington (Pa.) Board of Commissioners: $100 loan
1866
13

Vignette of indian overlooking rising city; engraved borders with corner vignettes of clipper ship, classical symbols, train on tracks

Keystone Cooperative Banking Association (Philadelphia, Pa.): 150 shares
1925
14

Vignette with horses and shield and engraved border in green

Kill-von-Kull Railway Company (Jersey City, N.J.)
ca.1885
15

Vignette of train on a riverside track; engraved border

Lake Erie, Youngstown, and Southern Railroad Company (Phio)
ca.1905
16

Vignette of train exiting a tunnel, engraved border, background in sepia

Lewiston Suspension Bridge Company
ca.1860
17

Vignette of view of river and bridge

Mahoning Coal Rail Road Company (Ohio)
ca.1871
18

Vignette of train at a station by riverboat; engraved border in green

McKeesport and Belle Vernon Railroad Company
ca.1885
19

Vignette of train on riverside track; engraved border and background in bluegreen

Merchants Despatch Transportation Company (New York, N.Y.)
ca.1871
20

Engraved border

Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad Company (New York, N.Y.)
ca.1855
21

Vignette of train on a riverside track; lightly engraved border

National Bank of Wilmington and Brandywine (Wilmington, Del.): 21 shares
1890
22

Vignettes of capitol building, Ceres, and eagle; thin engraved border

National Stock Yard Company (Weehawken, N.J.)
ca.1885
23

Vignette of cattle in rural scene; engraved border

New Jersey Junction Railroad Company (New Jersey)
ca.1890
24

Vignette of train in a station, engraved blue, all printed in border

New York and Fort Lee Rail Road Company (Jersey City, N.J.)
ca.1875
25

Vignette of train on a riverside track; engraved border in orange

North River Construction Company (New Jersey)
1888
26

Not illustrated

Northern Liberties Railroad Loan (Philadelphia, Pa.)
1851
27

Vignettes of trains and bridge over a broad river, an Eagle, Indian, and company founders

Northern Refrigerator Car Company (Milwaukee, Wisc.)
ca.1925
28

Engraved border in green

Peoria Eastern Railway Company (Illinois)
ca.1900
29

Vignette of train at a station; engraved border in brown

Philadelphia County Loan (Philadelphia, Pa.)
1842
30

Elaborately engraved border

Roselle and South Plainfield Railway Company (New Jersey)
1885
31

Not illustrated

Russian credit
1912
32

Elaborate engraving with vignette of Peter the Great in several colors

Spring Garden Railroad Loan (Philadelphia, Pa.)
1850
33

Vignette of blacksmith, women, in urban setting

Syracuse, Chenango, and New York Railroad Company (Syracuse, N.Y.)
ca.1890
34

Vignette of train leaving a station; engraved border and background in green

Three Hundred Park Avenue (New York, N.Y.) stock shares
ca.1905
35

Engraved border and body in dark green and green

Utica and Schenectady Railroad Company (Albany, N.Y.)
ca.1850
36

Vignette of train in landscape

Vernon, Greensburg, and Rushville Railroad Company
ca.1885
37

Vignette of train in landscape; engraved border and $100 overprinted in gold

Vulture mining Company of Arizona (New York, N.Y.): 1000 shares in first mortgage bond
1870
38

Vignette of landscape with smelter; engraved border in orange

West Branch Coal Company (Spangler, Pa.)
ca.1895
39

Vignette of miners with picks; engraved border in black with corner vignettes of mining, and background in green

West Shore and Ontario Terminal Company (New York, N.Y.)
ca.1885
40

Vignette of steamship and river scene; engraved border and background in chocolate

Western Transit Company (New York)
ca.1885
41

Vignette of clipper ship at sea; engraved borders

White Water Railroad Company (Ind.): $20 scrip
1878
42

Vignette of train in landscape; engraved border; $20 value overprinted in red

Administrative information

Access

The collection is open for research.

Provenance

Gift of Kenneth W. Rendell, Dec. 1976.

Processing Information

Processed by I. Eliot Wentworth, Feb. 2018.

Language:

English

Copyright and Use (More information )

Cite as: Stock Certificates Collection (MS 477). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.

Search terms

Subjects

  • Railroads

Genres and formats

  • Stock certificates

Link to similar SCUA collections