Latest offering from HWPH

Historisches Wertpapierhaus AG (HWPH) will stage two sales on Saturday, May 4 and Monday, May 6 at Barockhäuser in Würzburg, Germany. Bidders may participate in person or by mail, fax or online.

Full-color catalogs for the sale are available by contacting HWPH by email at auktion@hwph.de or through its website at the link above. All lots are viewable online with full-color images larger than those possible in printed catalogs. Online bidding is conducted through the Invaluable bidding platform, so make sure you register for bidding beforehand.

While my readers will no doubt find many other items of interest, I count 75 lots that directly involve North American railroads. Advanced collectors will be familiar with the vast majority of company names, but upon closer inspection they will spot several scarce varieties, some of which are new or have not been seen for years.

For instance, take lot 67 from the highly familiar Chicago Great Western Railroad Company. While the 10-sh stock certificate looks familiar, it is actually a previously unreported variety of a stock trust certificate. The certificate was issued to Prince Ferdinand Philipp Maria August Rafael of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, himself a famous German collector in the early 1900s.

Lot 71 is from the Hartford & New Haven Rail Road Co, another highly familiar name. The 1850 stock certificate, however, is a new variety of "Extension Stock", not previously known to me.

Everyone familiar with North American railroads has seen images of stock certificates from the Mount Tamalpais & Muir Woods Railway Co with its great view of San Francisco Bay through the trees. Unlike all of them, lot 77 appears to be the first uncancelled example. (The catalog does not specifically mention whether it is cancelled or not.) Don't tell anyone, but even if cancelled, the start price is low by comparison to a recent sale price of a cancelled example in a Holabird auction of Ken Prag's collection.

There is also an example of an 1857 stock transfer from the New York & Harlem Rail Road Company. This would seem to be an unimpressive offering except for two things: this is one of only two examples of this variety known to me. AND the transfer records a sale of stock to Cornelius Vanderbilt and Daniel Drew. This is historic connection to be sure. Observers will note that I do have this transfer recorded in my catalog, based on an auction appearance 27 years ago!

The large vignette of a horsecar makes this 1900 stock certificate from the Rome City Street Railway Company (lot 91) quite recognizable. Again, its familiarity is deceptive. This certificate was issued after the company raised its capital from $50,000 to $150,000 in 1900. This lot is the only issued example to come to my attention. All the other examples with the capital alteration are unissued. That's probably not a big deal to the majority of collectors, but where else are they going to find another issued example?

Then there is a blue version of a 1915 stock certificate from the Western Railway of Havana, Ltd. (lot 102.) The certificate carries no vignette, so the lot does not seem important – except for the fact that it is a previously unknown variety.

Lot 112 is another transfer I recorded many years ago. It is a transfer from the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad Company dated 1836 and signed by William Blackhouse Astor. I'm pretty sure Astor is no longer signing certificates like this.

For those collectors still searching for an autographed certificate from James Longstreet, take a look at lot 113 and an 1871 stock certificate from the New Orleans & North Eastern Rail Road Company.

Many collectors are going to notice the previous certificate, but the familiarity of lot 660 will probably cause many collectors pass on by. This lot is a $10,000 bond from the Cincinnati Indianapolis St Louis & Chicago Railway Co, and is currently represented by 25 or so examples. There might be another fifty of them out there somewhere. This particular certificate, however, is one of three currently known that were issued to Thomas Alva Edison and signed by him twice on the back in his highly distinctive style. Maybe worth a second look?

Of more normal appeal is lot 1957, a vertical format bond from the New York Susquehanna & Western Railroad Company. This bond shows a famous American Bank Note Company vignette of four miners and a huge mine car outside of a coal mine. The vignette is most often seen on stock certificates from the Acadia Coal Company. What makes this bond significant, however, is that it is one of only four to come to my attention in over thirty years.

As I do with most auctions I review, I beg collectors to act early if they are interested in bidding on rarities. And even if they are not going to bid, they need to be aware of all their options and what other collectors are bidding on. At least take the time to visit the HWPH website. I guarantee there is a lot more world out there than the fiefdom of eBay.