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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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.
Engraved border and background in mauve
Vignette of shore scene with steamboat; engraved border and value in light brown
Vignette of train at a station; engraved border and seal in brown
Vignette of factory and depot; engraved border and body in rust
Vignette of state of New York emblem set against a shore scene; engraved border
Engraved border
Vignette of train on riverside;engraved border in brown
Vignettes of surveyors at work, train in landscape; engraved border
Vignettes of train passing under a stone arch, Company founder, and Clipper ship, with engraved border
Vignette of dock scene with inset of wheat; small vignette of train nearing a station; engraved border in dark brown
Engraved vignettes of eagle aerie and dog seated by a factory
Not illustrated
Vignette of indian overlooking rising city; engraved borders with corner vignettes of clipper ship, classical symbols, train on tracks
Vignette with horses and shield and engraved border in green
Vignette of train on a riverside track; engraved border
Vignette of train exiting a tunnel, engraved border, background in sepia
Vignette of view of river and bridge
Vignette of train at a station by riverboat; engraved border in green
Vignette of train on riverside track; engraved border and background in bluegreen
Engraved border
Vignette of train on a riverside track; lightly engraved border
Vignettes of capitol building, Ceres, and eagle; thin engraved border
Vignette of cattle in rural scene; engraved border
Vignette of train in a station, engraved blue, all printed in border
Vignette of train on a riverside track; engraved border in orange
Not illustrated
Vignettes of trains and bridge over a broad river, an Eagle, Indian, and company founders
Engraved border in green
Vignette of train at a station; engraved border in brown
Elaborately engraved border
Not illustrated
Elaborate engraving with vignette of Peter the Great in several colors
Vignette of blacksmith, women, in urban setting
Vignette of train leaving a station; engraved border and background in green
Engraved border and body in dark green and green
Vignette of train in landscape
Vignette of train in landscape; engraved border and $100 overprinted in gold
Vignette of landscape with smelter; engraved border in orange
Vignette of miners with picks; engraved border in black with corner vignettes of mining, and background in green
Vignette of steamship and river scene; engraved border and background in chocolate
Vignette of clipper ship at sea; engraved borders
Vignette of train in landscape; engraved border; $20 value overprinted in red
The collection is open for research.
Gift of Kenneth W. Rendell, Dec. 1976.
Processed by I. Eliot Wentworth, Feb. 2018.
Cite as: Stock Certificates Collection (MS 477). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
