Archives International Auctions, part 14

Archives International Auctions will hold its 14th auction at its office in Fort Lee, New Jersey April 16. This sale will feature approximately 1,150 lots, and like most recent AIA sales, leans very heavily on unassailable items from American Bank Note Company and its predecessors.

About 18% of the lots involve stocks and bonds and about 10% involve security printing ephemera. The remainder of the sale represents U.S. and world paper money. Huge numbers of specimens make an appearance, especially among the world notes. In my mind, the top-notch showpiece of the sale is a presentation proof of a $10 1890 U.S. legal tender with General Sheridan. Terrific! (This is the note shown on the cover, at left.)

Obviously, I am most interested in the selection of railroad stocks and bonds. True to form, previously unseen specimens are the order of the day among Archives International's offerings. Of the hundred lots being offered, I suspect there are 40-50 certificates I don't yet have cataloged. (Many are multi-item lots, consequently the number of certificates available exceeds the number of lots.)

To me, standouts among railroad stocks and bonds are "new" bonds from the Union Pacific, but collectors will all have their own favorites. An unlisted bond of the Eastern Railroad of Long Island ought to attract attention. (Long Island-related collectibles are always popular.) So should three bonds from the Central Pacific, one of which is a bond for $2,941,000. Another very interesting piece is an 1870 proof from the Northern Pacific. Regardless of collectors' individual interests, there ought to be something for everyone.

If you have not already received a catalog, contact Archives International Auctions right away by phone at 201-944-4800 or by web at www.archivesinternational.com. As typical, you may bid in person or by mail, fax, phone or internet.

Archives International's catalogs are always very well produced. Items are well illustrated and most are given lots of "breathing room." Because of the presentation style, the catalogs tend to be very thick and will probably become collectible in themselves. Make sure you get yours while they are still available.

Spring sale from Archives International

Just today, I received the newest Spring Auction 2012 catalog from Archives International Auctions. This particular sale will offer 1,070 lots on Tuesday, May 15, starting at 10:00 am. This will be the first sale in Archives International's own facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey which is across the George Washington Bridge from Manhattan.

The Spring Auction includes three main types of collectibles: banknotes (555 lots), security printing ephemera (102 lots) and stocks and bonds (413 lots). Foreign banknotes are heavily represented among the banknotes, but there are gobs of obsolete currency sheets that I haven't seen since the big Christie's sales in 1990.

All sorts of items are represented among the lots of security printing ephemera including engraved vignettes, advertising sheets, invitations, and advertising cards, primarily in specimen and proof form
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Obviously, I am most interested in the 87 lots of railroad material, 83 of which are from the U.S. There are numerous stars in the sale, and there are surely to be items of interest to all U.S. collectors, depending on specialty. In general, price estimates congregate in the $200 to $600 range with some higher and some lower.

My favorites include specimens from the Texas Central Railroad, the Quanah Acme & Pacific Railway and the Galveston Houston & San Antonio Railway. Perhaps my favorite is a proof from Morgan's Louisiana & Texas Railroad & Steamship Company. There are 61 specimens and proofs in the sale, leaving 28 issued certificates, almost evenly split between cancelled and uncancelled.

One of the cancelled certificates is a Jay Gould-signed bond from the Troy Salem & Rutland Rail Road. The price estimate is $200 to $300 which I must say seems a very fair estimate. For whatever reason, these bonds are a little more common than they were fifteen years ago, but they are still very far from "common"! Moreover, these bonds are among only a tiny handful of certificates that display Gould signatures other than the numerous MKT stocks.

Another standout is a 1919 uncancelled stock certificate of the Alaska Anthracite Rail Road Company. Take my word, they're not making any more of those!

Finally, I have to mention a local Colorado favorite, an uncancelled (correction: CANCELLED, see comments below) 1873 Colorado Central Rail Road Company stock certificate. This particular certificate is one that carries the signature of Henry Teller, a man who made a fortune playing lawyer in the gold fields of Central City and Black Hawk. I once donated a small letter signed by Teller for sale at a historical society fund raiser. Admittedly, Teller's autograph means more here than most anywhere else, but my donated Teller autograph fetched $250, and that was almost 20 years ago!

If you have not already received your beautifully-printed catalog, be sure to contact Archives International Auctions as soon as possible. As I mentioned above, the sale will take place May 15th, 2012. Ask for the "Spring Auction 2012" catalog or "Part XI" catalog.

If short on time, go to the Archives International web site and bid online.

Mario Boone's sale 48 coming quick

Mario Boone will present auction 48 as well as a huge stock and bond bourse in Antwerp's Crowne Plaza hotel on March 10 and 11. The bourse is billed as the world's largest scripophily event. Auction 48 will offer 1590 lots of items from around the globe; 273 lots represent North American countries.

While my interests are obvioiusly rail-related, Mario's catalogs always offer very fascinating pieces from other industries. Take a look at his colorful catalog and you will be astounded at the sizes of some vignettes, particularly several from Portugal. Several other European certificates are downright astounding.

This time, North American railroads are represented by 56 single-item lots plus one large lot of 67 Cuban railroad certificates. I can't say how many Cuban specialists there may be, but I recommend close attention to that lot (#233). It contains numerous rarities and I can only hope that the winner will scan certificates and send copies. If there is a downside, it might be the 5,000 EUR start price.

Having said that, I heartily applaud the European practice of clearly posting minimum bids. Why American sales have abandoned the custom is really quite beyond me. Collectors may not like posted minimum bids. but they never need to question how much to bid. Some collectors will always complain about apparently high European prices, but astute observers will always be able to spot potential bargains. In the few minutes I've spent with the catalog, I already noticed several. As always, the question remains to be seen who else might bid who owns a more well-stocked wallet.

You still have time to order Mario's full-color catalog from www.booneshares.com. Or call 0032-(0)9-386-97-66. All auction lots are online and illustrated and you may bid until March 9. Again, the sale will take place March 10 and 11, so I suggest quick action.

Massive Spink 312 catalog available

Spink Smythe will offer 3,517 lots over a course of three days. The sale will be held at Spink New York headquarters starting Monday, January 16. As with its recent sales, this sale continues its Collector's Series and will again feature paper money, coins, autographs and stocks and bonds.

Catalog #312 sports 322 pages of lots, with just a little less than half the pages dedicated to stocks and bonds. In terms of lots, stocks and bond account for 1,838 lots, or 52% of the entire catalog!

As usual, railroads represent the largest single industry group. I count 501 lots directly related to railroads including a large selection of 19 lots of railroad aid bonds.

Like other recent Spink Smythe sales, roughly two-thirds of the railroad-related lots are multiple-item lots. That means that one-third of the lots are single-item lots that feature some of the classier material including scarcer items and more expensive autographed certificates. As expected, personalities such as Morgan, Gould, Sage, Huntington and the like are well-represented.

The median lot in this sale includes eight items. Some collectors may object to multi-item lots, but they overlook the great opportunity to acquire items for very low per-item costs. With eBay an inexorable fact of life, it is now vastly easier for collectors to liquidate duplicate and unwanted items than ever before. Let's also remember that 8-item lots are very much smaller than in the days when Smythe was selling off the huge Penn Central hoard. Personally, I'm a great fan of moderate-sized lots.

I calculate that Spink Smythe will offer in the neighborhood of 13,000 railroad-related certificates. More if you count less obvious material grouped with non-railroad and general certificates. That is a LOT of certificates. And yet, the minimum estimated value for that number works out to only about $8 per certificate! That tells me that with rare exception, most of the collection is fairly priced, if not under-priced to the market. It looks to me that there are some serious deals to be had.

If interested in participating in sale #312, I suggest you contact Spink Smythe right away. Believe me, there is NEVER sufficient lead time. Even carefully reading the descriptions of several hundred lots takes more time than you will have. The quickest way is to visit the Spink Smythe web site or call 212-262-8400. You may attend the sale and bid in person; you may bid by mail or you may bid online via Spink Live.

Latest 2012 Scripophily.com calendar published

Most of you probably know Bob Kerstein from his prominent web presence at Scripophily.com or his appearances at shows. For the last several years, Bob has published a calendar of very rare and intriguing certificates from all types of companies.

His 2012 edition is now ready for delivery. For your copy, make sure you contact Bob as soon as possible at his web site or by phone at either 888-876-2576 or 703-787-3552. Calendars are available at last year's price of $9.95. (Bob offers discounts for large quantities.)

This year's selections are images of certificates and related documents from the collection of the Museum of American Finance in New York. Companies include:

• The Cannonball Gold Mining Company
• International Gordon Bennett Race
• West Side Elevated Patented Railway Company
• Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company
• Kansas City Base Ball Association
• Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna bond
• The Pneumatic Strength Test Company
• United States of America bond
• New York Electric Vehicle Transportation Company
• North American Underground Telegraph & Electric Company
• Shadyside Operators Inc.
• A Republican Institution in the Town of Boston
• New York Stock Exchange Inc
• Standard Oil Company

Needed! Prices realized from Smythe sales

As most of you know, R. M. Smythe and NASCA catalogs make up a large percentage of the references in my database of stocks and bonds. I've been collecting – and in many cases, re-collecting – catalogs related to stocks and bonds for twenty-five-plus years.

I am still looking for four missing catalogs plus two more that have fallen apart from over-use. I suspect I'll never re-acquire the catalogs, but I am hopeful of acquiring all the prices realized.

Do any of you have Prices Realized from any of the following sales? If you do, would you mind sending either copies, scans or PDFs?

# 69 Strasburg 1988, Public and Mail Bid Auction	Feb 6, 1988
# 73 Memphis 1988, Public and Mail Bid Auction Sale	Jun 23, 1988
# 80	?
# 97 Memphis International 1991	Jun 27, 1991	copy found
# 140 1995 Memphis Mail Bid Only	Jun 27, 1992
# 146 9th Annual Strasburg Stock and Bond Auction	Jan 26-27, 1996
# 147 9th Annual Strasburg, mail bid	Feb 8, 1996
# 156	?
# 173 11th Annual Strasburg, mail bid	Feb 5, 1998
# 177 22nd Memphis International Paper Money Show	Jun 19, 1998
# 178 22nd Memphis International Paper Money Show mail bid	Jul 9, 1998
#187 New York Spring Coin, Currency, Stock & Bond Auction	May 3, 1999
# 205 14th Annual Strasburg Stock & Bond Auction	Jan 19-20, 2001	contribution rec'd
# 212 25th Annual Memphis International Paper Money Show, mailbid only	Jun 27, 2001	contribution rec'd
# 269 New York City Winter Stock and Bond Mailbid Auction	Dec 15, 2006	copy found
# 272 Memphis Paper Money and Stock & Bond Auction	Jul 5-6, 2007	contribution rec'd

PS: "NASCA" stands for Numismatic & Antiquarian Service Corporation of America, a predecessor of the R.M. Smythe Co. The company became NASCA-Karp Auctions Inc. in about 1984. The company was soon acquired by John Herzog and became known as "NASCA, a Division of R.M. Smythe & Co., Inc." in 1985. Smythe continued the pre-existing catalog numbering in an unbroken series, so many numismatic dealers make no precise distinction between NASCA and Smythe. The "NASCA" name ultimately fell out of use in about 1991. The venerable British firm, Spink, took over Smythe in 2008 and changed the name to Spink Smythe. While catalog numbers were initially downplayed, SpinkSmythe continues the old catalog numbering.

Archives International Auction 6

Short Notice!

Through his auction company, Archives International Auctions, Dr. Robert Schwartz will hold his 6th auction in conjunction with the first New York Bourse. The auction will be split into two parts: the first session is a live auction offering 563 lots this comong Friday night (October 21, 2011) at the historic India House at One Hanover Square in New York. The second session will be a live internet, phone and mailbid sale offering 604 lots on the following Wednesday (October 26, 2011).

PLEASE contact Auctions International TODAY if you plan to bid. Don't dawdle!

I cannot tell you how happy I am to see Schwartz's auctions teaming up with John and Diana Herzog for this event. And I can't wait to see the prices realized and hear back from attendees! Following a couple of intriguingly good European sales and recent strong eBay prices, I am predicting very healthy prices. I wish everyone - collectors, dealers, and consignors - great success.

Essentially all of this sale is made up of stocks and bonds. About a quarter of the lots being offered represent North American railroads. Of that number, just a little less than two-thirds are specimens and proofs, meaning that the vast majority of the lots represent scarce to seriously rare pieces.

From my viewpoint, there is a lot to recommend this sale. In many respects, it reminds me of several important sales from the late 1980s and early 1990s that occurred at pivotal times. Looking back on those sales, we saw a few lucky buyers procure items that have rarely appeared since. This MIGHT be one of those buying opportunities.

I'm not saying that everything in the sale is bloody rare. Nor am I saying everything will sell at monstrous prices. I am merely warning that many items in this sale may not reappear for years.

If I were a collector of mining certificates, I'd  look really, really hard at an 1865 stock certificate from the Arcadian Copper Company (lot 379.) They're certainly not making any more of those babies!

In the railroad specialty, there are two bonds that sport an overprint explaining that bonds will no longer be paid in gold, but in legal tender. Both these certificates (from the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad (lot 514) and the Austin Street Railway (lot 541)) were printed in a narrow and historic range of time in 1933 following the suspension of all contracts denominated in gold. These items rarely appear for sale.

Another notable is a $100 bond jointly issued by the Lamoille Valley, Montpelier & St. Johnsbury & Essex County Railroad Companies (lot 552). By itself, the certificate is quite rare. What leverages its importance, though, is the appearance of a very rare brown RN-R1 imprinted revenue.

Yet another intriguing rarity is an uncancelled 1905 preferred stock certificate from the Yellowstone Park Railroad Company (lot 563). Certificates from this company have only appeared a few times, and I'm unconvinced that their scarcity has been fully appreciated.

As I mentioned, a large portion of the sale is made up of specimens and proofs. Essentially every proof is unique and specimens are rarely known in quantities of more than ten. The vast majority of specimens are known in quantities of five or fewer. Admittedly, specimens are not for every collector, but those who do collect them recognize acquisition opportunities are few and far between.

Let me stress one more time. If interested in participating, be sure to contact Auctions International immediately.