Spink USA auction, Oct 30, 2018

Spink will offer fifteen lots of railroad certificates among its wide-ranging selection of collectibles in a sale at its New York offices October 30 and 31.This is sale number 342, the latest addition to Spink's continuing Numismatic Collector's Series. Items offered include coins, paper money, medals and stocks and bonds plus a very nice assortment of World War I posters. (Having sold many of these posters myself, I think these posters would make a delightful sale on their own if photographed and offered individually.)

Like recent sales, Spink is grouping most of its stocks and bonds in multi-item lots. While this is not particularly good for collectors, these lots would make good additions to smaller dealer inventories. Only two of the lots are illustrated in the physical catalog, but all scripophily lots are illustrated online at Spink.com.

Because of the wide array of items offered in this and similar Numismatic Collector's Series sales, collectors will find many highly interesting lots that they would not ordinarily encounter. Those are precisely the kinds of collectibles most people will overlook if not thumbing through the physical catalog. Consequently, that is precisely why I always recommend acquiring catalogs from professional auction sellers such as Spink. However, if only viewing online, then browse offerings of railroad certificates by searching for lots 1079 through 1092, 1099 and 1112A.

Boone auction 61 near the end of October

I just received a new catalog from Mario Boone and discovered it offers 102 lots in the North American railroad specialty. I did not keep count when I entered all the information in my database, but it appears that at least half of his offerings are represented by ten or fewer examples.

I do not want this point to go unnoticed. There are LOTS of certificates in auction 61 that you may not have the opportunity to acquire for several years, if ever again.

Yes, you will see some long-time favorites like Ferro Monte Rail Road, Gilpin Tramway and Wat-Chung Railway, but there are a few that I have never seen before.

At least part of these offerings seem to have originated from a collection of one of my long-time correspondents. However, I have no idea where most came from.

The best thing I can do is suggest you acquire a copy of the printed auction catalog. Failing that, please visit booneshares.com and look at items there.

I know there are not a lot of Cuba specialists out there, but eighteen lots represent Cuban railroads. With the exception of certificates from the Cuba Railroad, most Cuban certificates are quite scarce. If you happen to collect certificates from Cuba, please don't miss out. Lot 1037 is a stock certificate from the Western Railway of Havana, Ltd. and is the only certificate I ever encountered. That particular certificate was last offered in Germany in 2008. Equally rare is a specimen from the Banco del Comercio Ferro Carriles Unidos de la Habana Almacenes de Regla (lot 1038), last seen in a 1993 Smythe sale.

There are only five railroad lots from Canada, but among those is a stock certificate from The Cape Breton Railway Extension Co, Ltd. While the company is not new to me, this is the first time I have actually seen an image. Rare? It seems like it to me.

Obviously, I don't have the space to relate every rarity. However, here are a few. In parentheses are the numbers I have encountered since the late 1980s. Like any other super-rare collectible, there is always a possibility that additional unreported examples may exist somewhere. But I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Lot 1164, New Orleans Baton Rouge & Vicksburg Rail Road Co. (3)
Lot 1165, Selma & Gulf Railroad Co. (8)
Lot 1193, Pneumatic Tramway Engine Co. (3)
Lot 1200, Eastern Rolling Stock (1)
Lot 1211, San Diego Cable Railway Co.(2)
Lot 1212, Pensacola Terminal Co.(3)
Lot 1215, Gallatin Light Power & Railway Co. (1, GAL-405-S-30)
Lot 1219, Fair Haven & Westville Rail Road Co. (1, FAI-057a-S-40)
Lot 1222, The Stockton & Tuolumne County Railroad Co. (2 STO-160-S-30)
Lot 1223, Chatham & Lebanon Valley Railroad Co (1, CHA-748-B-25)
Lot 1226, Omaha Southern Railway Co. (4)
Lot 1227, Hastings & Northwestern Railroad Co. (2, HAS-750-S-30)

Note also that Lot 1227, is a serial number 1 certificate.

Auction 61 will take place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Antwerp, Belgium, October 27 and 28. The deadline for submitting absentee bids is 8 pm, October 26. I stress once again that there are a bunch of rarities in the sale that probably will not be seen again in the next ten years. Please visit Booneshares.com as soon as possible.