Website changes

I hope you have noticed some of the new changes to the Coxrail website. These updates include:

Switch to "Responsive" design.

In computer jargon, "responsive" or "fluid" web designs allows pages to change placement of images and page parts depending on the sizes of devices used to view the website. This allow pages to be viewed on devices ranging from large desktop monitors to tablets to smartphones (as shown at left.)

Users can now view the Coxrail site without needing to zoom in and out or pan from side to side. This change now allows users to access the database anywhere they may encounter certificates.

There are over 550 pages on the Coxrail website that hold static information. The database allows access to over 100,000 pages of dynamic information that is delivered on-the-fly as users request searches. With that much information compiled in one place, there are bound to be errors and problems. I BEG users to report any and all problems and mistakes they might stumble across.

Coal database added.

I have been compiling information about certificates from North American coal companies for a few years. I have finally opened up the database and now allow anyone to search for certificates in the same manner as for railroads. As of this date, there are 1,638 coal company certificates described, compared to 20,411 railroad company certificates.

As most of you know, coal was crucial to the operation of railroads, so it was common for railroads to either mine coal for their own purposes or to own captive coal mines in order to ensure their supplies of fuel. Consequently, there are 138 certificates found in both specialties.

Users may search for coal certificates from the normal search page simply by clicking on the "coal" option within the yellow search box.

The coal company project is a minor project and will remain one simply because coal mining was never "big business" like railroading. That is not to say there weren't a few large companies. Still, the collecting of coal company certificates is a small specialty with few active participants. Prices tend to be low to extremely low, regardless of rarity. It is not at all uncommon to be able to buy unlisted certificates for less than $5 on eBay.

Image sizes enlarged. 

For several years, users have been able to view images of certificates in two ways: either as collections of multiple images or as single images. Up until now, I have restricted images sizes to 200 pixels wide (a little over 2" wide on average screens) in order to keep my website costs manageable.

I recently switched website hosts and uploaded as many larger images as possible. Almost 2/3 of the previous images were enlarged. The larger images are now up to 640 pixels wide which works out to about 6.7 inches wide on average monitors. Most images now consume 10 times more display area..

Larger images are available whenever users view images of individual certificates. The collections of multiple images are still restricted to 200 pixels so users can continue to view collections of all certificates known for whole companies.

Unfortunately, I do NOT have large images for every certificate. Currently, there are 14,807 certificate images available online (13,857 railroad, 950 coal.) Of that number, 9,382 are now available for viewing in at 640 pixels wide.

Of course, that also means that 5,425 images need enlargement and improvement! Moreover, there are 7,144 certificates – a full 1/3 of all certificates recorded – that still lack any sort of decent image, large or small !!

Consequently, if any of my readers own any certificates lacking images or needing improvement, please consider sending larger scans or acceptably good photographs for inclusion online.

Mario Boone Auction & Bourse #55

Yet another beautiful set of catalogs from Mario Boone in Deinze, Belgium. This time, Mario will offer 2000 lots, entirely scripophily. The first quarter of the sale is dedicated entirely to French (and French-related) certificates. As many of you already know, French certificates tend to be rather ornate, with many being highly artistic. There are huge numbers of intriguing certificates in a special 96-page catalog dedicated entirely to those certificates.

The remaining 1,500 lots represent the rest of the world, far too many to illustrate entirely in the printed catalogs. Thankfully, Mario illustrates ALL of his lots in full color online at Booneshares.com. Having said that, be aware that the printing and production of Boone's catalogs is always superb and I am honored to have them in my catalog collection.

(Note for non-Europeans. Prices are, of course, in Euros, but Boone catalogs are written entirely in English.)

Boone's offerings are most emphatically global in nature. That means you will find certificates from everywhere and anywhere. Certificates involve every kind of business imaginable. Obviously, my interests are North American railroads and the selection this time seems a little more subdued than normal. Nonetheless, I count 37 rail-related lots.

To me, the standout is a £100 bond from the St Francis Branch of the Temiscouata Railway.This bond was printed in London and issue from Quebec in 1890. This particular certificate is one of only two known to me. It last sold in Germany in 2007 and is the image I show on my website.

Paging toward American certificates, I will suggest Central American enthusiasts stop and take a look at a 1904 bond from the Vera Cruz & Pacific Railroad Company (issued from West Virginia.) While not nearly as scarce as the Canadian bond, this is a certificate that appears for sale only sporadically.

I count 29 American railroad certificates, the priciest being an 1870 £100 bond issued by the Maxwell Land Grant & Railway Company. This certificate (shown at left) is one of only six to appear and will represent a new variety (based on the imprinted revenue) when sold. Like the other five, this bond is signed by William Jackson Palmer (president) and Thomas Scott (trustee.)

For fans of the Vanderbilts is a signed but unissued bond receipt for the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad (titled a 'Consolidation Certificate') signed by William Henry Vanderbilt. Although undated, I strongly suspect this certificate was signed in about 1874, shortly after he took over the reins of the company from the Commodore. The certificate is uncancelled, so the signature is in great shape.

There are numbers of other medium-scarcity certificates for sale, but I'd also recommend considering a 1906 $1000 bond from the Muncie & Union City Traction Co. This is what I'd call a 'sleeper.' The lowest sales price I've ever recorded is $125, but I've only recorded three certificates before this one. Admittedly, traction companies have never been as popular as mainline railroad companies in the U.S., but still, this makes only the fourth example to come to my attention.

Substantially more common, but always fetching a higher price is a brown preferred stock certificate from the Hupp Automatic Mail Exchange Company. This certificate and its green common stock companion are always popular items because of the huge custom vignette on both front and back.

Finally, I must mention the ever-popular 1873 stock certificate from the Harrisburg Portsmouth Mount Joy & Lancaster Rail Road. The one offered in Mario Boone's sale is signed by John Edgar Thomson who was president of the Pennsylvania Railroad for 22 years. Although I have recorded 96 of these certificates so far, and suspect there are double that number in collections, it remains one of the most popular American certificates around because of its ten(!) vignettes. I suspect this certificate was designed in 1845 or 1846 by Toppan Carpenter. That company was later consolidated into the great American Bank Note Company and you can spot the tiny "ABNCo" logo at the bottom right corner of Franklin's vignette on certificates dated 1859 and later.

Be sure to check out the catalog online, but you will need to act fast if you want a physical catalog.


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Archives International Sale 29, October 24 and 29

It is hard to believe that Archives International Auctions is already up to sale 29! A tremendous number of items have already passed under AIA's gavel and another 1,300-plus lots are destined for sale later this month.

While my focus (of course) is railroad stocks and bonds, Robert Schwarz and his organization bring you much more than scripophily. The first session of the sale will take place on Saturday, October 24 at the Museum of American Finance in New York. AIA's sale takes place in conjunction with John Herzog's Wall Street Collector's Bourse, now in its fifth year. Being situated at 48 Wall Street, the main exhibition hall at the museum is the perfect place for a sale heavy in stocks and bonds.

Session One contains a large number of corporate stocks and bonds, Federal bonds and Confederate bonds, Also appearing for the first time are an interesting array of items from Herzog's personal collection.

Session Two will take place a few days later (October 29) at AIA offices in Fort Lee, New Jersey. That portion of the sale will offer over 300 lots of worldwide currency, many of which are specimens. Additionally, there are another 300+ lots of U.S. currency of all types plus a couple hundred more lots miscellaneous lots of coins, checks, printing ephemera and scripophily.

Of interest to my readers are 134 scripophily lots related to North American railroads (122 in session 1 and 22 in session 2.) As normal, Mr. Schwarz will offer a number of American Bank Note Company specimens, several of which are not yet listed in my database.

For those of you with interests outside of railroading, you will find several notable standouts too numerous to mention. Okay, I have to mention an 1865 Republic of Mexico bond, an 1889 Submarine Boat and Torpedo Co, stock, a Sierra Nevada & Pacific Coast Gold, Silver & Copper Mining Exploring Company & Land Association stock ( Is that a name or what?), a U.S. Battleship Maine Salvage Company stock and many, many more.

In terms of railroading. I suggest turning your attention to:

• Colorado Central Rail Road Co. stock certificate boldly issued to Henry Teller. 
• Denver Union Railway & Terminal Co. 1890 specimen bond
• Chicago & Ohio River Rail Road Co 1886 issued bond
• Maysville & Big Sandy Railroad Co 1888 specimen bond
• Missouri Pacific Railway Co 1880 specimen bond
• St Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad Co 1872 specimen bond

Having said that, I'll merely mention that you really need to sit down with the session 1 catalog and your computer. Search my database and you will find a number of certificates that are either very scarce or unlisted. MANY of those certificates are greatly more scarce than the Portsmouth Harrisburg Mount Joy & Lancaster Rail Road Co certificate offered as lot 248. Nonetheless, I'll bet lot 248 will attract more bidders than several other items you will not see again for ten, fifteen, maybe twenty years. So put in your bid by mail, fax or phone. You may not win, but I'll guarantee that if you don't bid, you're 100% sure not to win.

The catalog is online at Archives International Auctions. If you prefer a physical catalog, contact the AIA office by email or phone (201-944-4800.) You may also reach AIA by an online contact form.

HWPH auctions 39 and 40

Matthias Schmitt and his company, HWPH (Historische Wertpapiere AG) has two upcoming auctions on October 17 and 19. The majority of the lots involve German certificates, but there are still significant numbers of items from North America, Asia and elsewhere.

HWPH catalogs are among the most well-produced and well-illustrated catalogs for the stock and bond hobby. HWPH catalogs show all lots in full color which is essentially the European standard. The thing that separates HWPH from its global competitors is its awareness that it can use the web to show details that no printed catalog ever can.

By going to the HWPH website, collectors can see online images of certificates that are over seven inches across! I do not know of any other catalogers in the stock and bond specialty who show their lots in the same manner.

By my count, HWPH is offering 40 lots related to North American railroading. Standouts include the ever-popular Harrisburg Portsmouth Mount Joy & Lancaster Rail Road Company stock certificate with ten distinct vignettes (lot 101.) Another interesting offering is lot 103 which features an 1865 Illinois Central Rail Road stock certificate. This certificate is one of only four known to me and fetched an historic high price of $581 (counting commission) in Germany in 2013.

Many of the remaining lots are seen with some frequency in the United States and would not cause much excitement if offered here. However, as always, there are a few very rare items that might go unnoticed.

One is a $1000 second mortgage bond from the Columbia Electric Street Railway Light & Power Company from Columbia, South Carolina. This item is one of only two to have come to my attention and both of those sold on eBay in 2014.

Another item sure to escape attention is a Canadian-Pacific-Railway-Company share supposedly issued in Montreal in 1911. This particular variety was the subject of a November, 1991 article in the International Bond & Share Society Journal. According to the article, the Canadian Pacific testified that it never issued such certificates. On the other hand, the author suggested (and I concur) that the company might very well have been mistaken. These certificates are so well-engraved that it seems unlikely they were entirely fraudulent. At any rate, this certificate makes the fifth to be listed in my database and is historical by its confusing nature. (See a reprint of the IBSS article on my website at http://www.coxrail.com/IB&SSJ.asp.)

There are another couple deserving of attention. One is a stock certificate from the Kinniconick Freestone Railroad Company. This certificate is not horribly rare (six in my database), but is still infrequently seen. Another is a generic Goes certificate for the Madden Silent Wheel Corporation (four known to me.) The certificate being offered is one that previously appeared in a George LaBarre catalog from 2006.

These two sales will take place on the third weekend in October, so collectors still have time to acquire catalogs if they desire hard copies. Otherwise, interested collectors go to the HWPH site and browse the catalog online.

Spink Collector's Series Sale, Sep 24-25, 2015

It's tough to promote auctions when I receive catalogs with less than two weeks' notice. I can only hope that my readers receive their copies in time. If you are not on the Spink mailing list, then please act today!

At any rate, the latest Spink sale will take place in New York on September 24 and 25. You can find details at Spink's site along with the capability of downloading a PDF version of the catalog.

There is a lot to like in this sale. I count 126 lots of railroad-related certificates. One of the things I especially appreciate is an increased emphasis on telling collectors that certificates are NOT cancelled. Thank you Spink!

As all of you are aware, coins and currency tend to sell for substantially more than scripophily and, consequently, are more profitable for auction companies to sell. Still, Spink has dedicated quite a lot of space in this catalog for scripophily illustrations (40 by my count) and I am sure collectors will enjoy that costly decision. Nonetheless, I continue to warn collectors to to pay special attention to non-illustrated lots. There are some gems hiding in the shadows, so be sure to take your time with the catalog and use my web site to see more illustrations.

(The majority of the small lots are well-described. Used with my online database, you will generally be able to tell precisely which certificates are being sold in the non-illustrated lots.)

One such non-illustrated gem is a Rio Grande Southern Railroad stock certificate signed by Colorado narrow-gauge pioneer Otto Mears. This is one of eight certificates that I have recorded, although I suspect several more exist. This particular example last sold in 2005 for $259.

Other notable lots include:

• South Pacific Coast Railway specimen bond; last sold for $900 in 2007 and illustrated on the back cover
• Denver & Boulder Valley Rail Road stock certificate; only seven known to me and this particular certificate was last offered 18 years ago
• Nevada Central Railway proof bond (with typical accessory impressions); I agree with Spink's suggestion that this is 'probably unique'
• Columbia & Klickitat Railway stock certificate; non-illustrated; while I can not possibly see every sale that takes place, I have not encountered another example since 1996
• Dakota Pacific Railroad bond; yes, friends, it IS scarce
• Northern Pacific & Puget Sound Shore Railroad specimen bond; I have never encountered before
• Ferrocarrilles Unidos de Yucatan specimen bond; another example previously unknown by me
• Pachuca Zacualtipan & Tampico Railway Ltd, specimen bond; I suspect this item is unique; last sold by Spink in 2009
• Tehuantepec Inter-Ocean Railroad Co; yet another specimen I suspect of being unique; last sold in 1997
• Maryland & Pennsylvania Rail Road Co, bond; this is a sleeper I hope collectors will notice; while there are almost certainly other examples hidden in American collections, I know of only two other examples; both of those are in Germany with little likelihood of returning to the U.S. anytime soon.

Forty-five of the lots being offered are multi-item lots, 13 of which contain from 100 to 1000 certificates each. A few of those large lots show that the great Penn Central/New York Central hoard is still being liquidated twenty-nine years after its release! If you have need for Pennsylvania Railroad certificates, you can probably pick up a thousand for less than 50 cents apiece. New York Central certificates? Probably a dollar apiece or less.

The point I want to make is that there should be something in this sale for everyone. Just make sure that you understand the sale will take place the fourth week in September. There is no time to dawdle.

Recycled Securities

Jim Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Currency & Coins sent this email on August 29, 2015

Was advised to send you these images  - I collect Texas Civil War County Scrip, and alwasy interested in the paper that the printers would scrounge up in order to complete an order - it "appears" this two note sheet of 25 Cent notes is printed on the back portion of a Eastern Texas Rail Road Company bond - as it was also payable in Nacogdoches.

I'll check with some other collectors to see if there notes are also on the back of this company's bonds.

Nacogdoches County  25-cent fractional currency (note the bond image showing through from the back)

While only "The Easte" is visible on this fragment, it is reasonable to conclude this item was part of a bond from the Eastern Texas Railroad Company. It turns out, however, the Mr. Fitzgerald had previously spotted an unattributed stock certificate from the company on a site titled "CSA Railroads", maintained by David Bright, at http://www.csa-railroads.com/Images.htm. (See below)

Note that the vignette and the text style are identical between the stock certificate and the bond fragment.

My reply:

Thanks for sending me images of both the fronts and backs of these fractional notes from Nacogdoches County. Back when I sold paper money, I used to see quite a few obsolete notes from southern states printed on the backs of recycled bonds. Normally, it was hard to determine what the original bonds might have been because it was rare to see more than a small part of a bond at any one time.

This particular railroad company was incorporated in 1856 and was sufficiently successful to have laid over 50 miles of track. The company lasted until about 1863 when its equipment was raided to fortify Fort Sabine, so I’m not entirely clear why its bonds were recycled into currency for Nacogdoches County. Nonetheless, it was a common practice in the Civil War South.

Followup for my readers:

Before we go any further, let me stress that:

• I have no conclusive evidence that any complete bonds for the Eastern Texas Railroad Company survive. At the present, we have no existing documents with which to compare this fragment.
• Records are not exact, but it is possible a bond from this company might reside in the collection of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (box 4-3/442). If anyone has access and can check out this source, I'd appreciate knowing. (See http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/10220/10220-P.html.)
• Other than a passing reference in the source mentioned above, I can find no evidence that the Eastern Texas Railroad issued bonds. However...
• Few railroads could have been constructed from the proceeds of stock sales alone. It was a near-necessity for railroad companies, large or small, to borrow money by selling bonds.
• The majority of railroad companies seem to have issued bonds soon after incorporation.

Decent paper was in short supply practically everywhere across the Confederate states and grew worse as the Civil War wore on. It is extremely common to find obsolete currency printed on recycled documents of all types. Many of the notes of the time were uniface. Flip the notes over and you will often find evidence of invoices, receipts, stock certificates, bonds and, most commonly, other currency. Without a lot of work, it is usually impossible to identify the origin of the recycled documents.

In this case, it appears that Nacogdoches County needed to print fractional notes for local circulation because coins had all been hoarded after the outbreak of the Civil War. The County probably reached out to local businesses for any kind of usable paper and discovered that the railroad had a stash of bonds that it had been unable to sell.

Mr. Fitzgerald's example is HIGHLY unusual in that his uncut pair of 25-cent notes is large enough to be able for him to speculate about the company name on the original bonds. Look at the top image of the uncut pair of Nacogdoches notes and imagine if the two notes had been cut apart. There would have been NO possible way to identify the source of the printing on the other side!

I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Fitzgerald's conclusion about the origin of the paper. Outside of the Eastern Texas Rail Road, I doubt there were any companies near Nacodoches large enough to attempt to sell corporate bonds.

In an attempt to learn more about its bond issues, I looked a little more into the company. It appears that my source of the company incorporation date was wrong. In my experience, finding wrong dates in railroad literature is the rule, not the exception. So, let me clarify with more research. Also, let me warn my readers that any and all derivative sources of date information are open to suspicion. Unless you are looking at original documents, you must suspect every date and every so-called "fact" you find. 

According to the Texas State Historical Association (Handbook of Texas Online, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/eqe04), the first incarnation of the company was the Henderson & Burkeville Railroad Company, chartered in 1852. That company changed its name to Mexican Gulf & Henderson Railroad Company in an 1856 charter amendment. The Eastern Texas Rail Road Company was chartered in January, 1860 and took over from the MG&H RR. The full text of the January 27, 1860 company charter appears in a section titled Special Laws of the Eighth Legislature Convened Nov. 7th, 1859 that appears in the General Laws of Texas.

Is the history of the company as clear as that? Of course not! 

According to the Transactions of the Texas Academy of Science for 1906 (published 1907), the Eastern Texas Railroad was chartered in 1858. Support for that earlier date is partially substantiated by a 2-page document, dated Jul 26, 1858, at which time Texas Governor Hardin Richard Runnels appointed commissioners for the Eastern Texas Railroad Company. The earlier date is further referenced in the Analytical Index to the Laws of Texas (1906) under legislation named 4-1239-1858 that chartered the company in 1858. Nonetheless, I have been stymied to find more robust clarification of the 1858 charter through online research.

So with this meager information in hand, I will guess that the company would have tried to sell bonds after both the 1858 and 1860 incorporations. 

My proof? None. So I will continue with my speculations.

There seems to be no evidence that the Eastern Texas Railroad (of 1858) laid any track in either 1858 or 1859, probably because of the lack of money.  

On the other hand, we know from numerous sources that the company had laid 15 to 20 miles of track from Sabine Pass to Beaumont by 1861. Obviously, it had acquired money from somewhere.

It turns out that the State Gazette (Austin) reported in its July 7, 1860 issue that investors had already subscribed to $301,000 in stock, presumably issued by the 1860 version of the company. As I said earlier, companies could rarely lay track without borrowing substantial amounts of money through the issuance of bonds. Therefore, it seems probable the source of 1861 construction funds came from 1860 or 1861 bond sales. 

In conclusion, if the company issued bonds in 1860 (or 1861) and they were still extant in 1861, there would have been no reason to recycle them into currency in 1862. It seems much more likely that Mr. Fitzgerald's Nacogdoches County notes were printed on recycled bonds that had been printed in 1858.

Autographs from Minor Celebrities

email from "M.S", January 13, 2015 —

I am a German collector of famous autographs on historic shares/bonds. Some month ago I contacted Matthias Schmitt from HWPH with a question about the Frederick Weyerhaeuser signature (junior or senior). He told me he mailed with you and finally we solved the issue. In the meantime I checked my whole database against your webpage, "Known autograph occurrences on collectible certificates“ and I found some in my opinion missing autographs (railway related) which I would like to provide you. I hope the information is helpful and I am happy to provide more information or copies from auction catalogues. If you are still interested in signature samples I can provide as well some signatures which are still missing on your page, just let me know.

My reply —

I finally found some time to work on the list of autographs you sent. It was impossible to add information about certificates from several companies (North American Co and Northern Pacific Railroad Co, for instance) because I could not determine specific varieties.

Still, I was able to add about 70% of the entries on your list to the database..

I must stress that I do not create separate listings for autographs of minor celebrities unless those autographs add at least $25 and 25% to the value of certificates.

It is my experience that autographs of all types, including minor celebrities, attract higher bids in Germany than they do in the United States. With some exceptions, autographs of minor celebrities attract little attention in the U.S.

It is equally apparent that German collectors place much higher values on rarity than average American collectors, especially if certificates have plain appearances. This was not always true, but the fascination for vignetted certificates is currently very high (in the U.S.).

Note to blog readers —

I always ask contributors to send images when contributing information. Without images, I usually cannot ascribe information to correct varieties.