Mario Boone’s next auction is scheduled for April 14 in Antwerp and will feature yet another great selection of American railroad rarities. As usual, he features stocks and bonds from around the globe, all arranged by country. The unquestioned highlight of this sale is a Spanish banking and loan document dated 1279 (!). If you are in the market for a 739-year old rarity then, chances are, you already have the catalog for Auction 60 and have planned your bid.I count 81 rail-related lots from the U.S. plus eight more from elsewhere in North America. I ask you to get online quickly at www.BooneShares.com and look for certificates in your specialties; you are bound to find several pieces of interest. I will mention a few items that caught my attention, either because they are the first I have seen or they APPEAR to be unique or extremely rare.
1901 debenture from the Cuban Central Railways, Ltd. (lot 1607): new to me.
1902 gold bond from the Havana Electric Railway Co. (lot 1608): only the second issued bond I have recorded.
1911 bond from the Havana Terminal Railroad Co. (lot 1613): another item I have never encountered before.
1851 stock from the Rochester & Syracuse Rail-Road (lot 1694): the second serial number known to me.
1865 stock from the Schuylkill & Dauphin Improvement Railroad Co (lot 1703): first recorded.
1872 stock certificate from the Schenectady & Susquehanna Rail Road Co (lot 1709): the second one to come to my attention in 30+ years.
1889 stock from the St Augustine & Halifax River Railway Co (lot 1729): first stock certificate that I have recorded for this company.
1890s specimen stock certificate from the Schenectady Railway Co. (lot 1732): if not unique, then nearly so.
1893 issued stock certificate from the Kaaterskill Railroad Co (lot 1739): while familiar in unissued form, this is the first issued example I have encountered.
1905 uncancelled stock certificate from The South Omaha & Western Railroad Co (lot 1753): serial #1 and still the only example I have ever recorded.
1915 uncancelled stock certificate from the New York & Queens County Railway Co (lot 1760): so far, only one known to me.
1947 stock certificate from the Salt Lake Rail & Bus Terminal Co (lot 1771): although recorded before, this remains the only certificate I know from this company.
The word unique means one of a kind; the only one in existence in the entire world. Unless there is some sort of definite proof, I am exceedingly reluctant to speculate that any certificate is truly unique. And I hate to say that another will never appear. ALL of us have been surprised more than once. Nonetheless, based on thirty years of recording over a million offerings of railroad stocks and bonds, I will suggest that several items in this auction APPEAR to be highly rare. Therefore, if sold, I believe we are unlikely to ever encounter several of these certificates again in our collecting careers.
Please visit www.BooneShares.com or email to receive a copy of this 263-page, full-color catalog. And yes, I know that commissions, VAT, postage and the declining value of the dollar relative to the Euro are penalties on American collectors. No argument there. But, what value do you place in your quest? And how many of these items do you expect to ever see again?
