High denom stocks and bonds  

 

I posted my $14 million bond in a separate thread, but thought it would be fun to post all my high denomination items in one spot. I'm curious to know whether anyone else collects this sort of material. The dealer who sold me most of these said U.S. collectors have little interest, really just Europeans.

The bonds were all issued for a million dollars or more ...

The stocks required a little research to ascertain their value when issued.

On Dec. 31, 1991, just over 2 million shares of Sun Distributors, LP would have cost between $5 and $5.25 million, depending on when in the day it was traded (and not including brokerage fees).

The closing value of 999,9999 shares of Westcoast Energy on Sept. 3, 1997 was $19.56 million.

And lastly, the First Virginia Banks stock certificate. Closing value for 776,325 shares on Oct. 6, 1993: $30.85 million dollars! For this one I also checked on how much it sold for - turns out they lost about $5 million on the deal.

None of these pieces of financial history cost me more than $15 each, which is why I'm kind of surprised so few people find these of interest. To me it's amazing to hold certificates that were, at least for a short time, worth more than I will ever earn in my lifetime.

These are usually of interest to stamp collectors if they have a revenue stamp on them like they used to in the past. Is not the collection of stock certificates called scripophily?

Yes, scripophily. I'm surprised at just how small that hobby is compared to others - there is only one major scripophily society worldwide (the International Bond & Share Society), which is heavily European - and has only 441 members. There is no US organization so far as I know.

It would be great if there was a forum dedicated specifically to scripophily, but alas, we are relegated to sub-categories of either stamp collecting or paper money collecting. There are some similar aspects, such as bank note engraving, but yes, it is a niche hobby.

I picked up another eye-opening bond today and thought it would make a nice addition to this thread. This is a 1949 specimen bond for the New York Bay Railroad. Specimens were typically printed by the bank note company as a example for the customer to review and for archive copies. At more than $14.5 million, this is the highest denomination bond I've ever seen. My guess is that such a precise amount represented a single legal transaction, such as the full amount of a loan or transfer of a controlling interest. Chances are there was just one bond issued and this specimen is as close as the public will ever get to seeing it.

Here's a NY Times newspaper abstract of what that dollar amount represented:

Make sure you send a scan of that in to Terry Cox for his database. The underlying bond appears to be listed (in unissued form as an "odd" bond - that is, with denominations printed in on an individual basis) with one serial number but no scan.

You bet I will! And I'll be sending him a high-res image, too.

Wt1, as always you are a big help in researching the background to these high-denomination stories. It looks like the Equitable Life Assurance Society answered the call of the Pennsy RR -- for the entire amount.

Smaller than we've been talking about, but here's a $100,000 bond from the Baltimore & Ohio RR. The stocks of this company are generally quite common but the bonds are much harder to find!

If anyone is interested in a good book about the art of engraving on stock certificates, this is a good book: http://product.half.ebay.com/The-Ar...9226&tg=info

Thanks Southpaw - I think I'll pick that one up!

Here's another odd duck - $2,067,000.

These are fascinating, GregAlex. Thanks for sharing them.

Kirk

Very nice certificate, paperhistory! If you are familiar with the CoxRail database of railroad stocks and bonds, that particular specimen is one that there is no illustration for. You might consider submitting it.
http://www.coxrail.com/database/pri...=21489&t=rry

Greg - thanks. Sent it to him a couple of days ago, which is why I had the image to post here. :) It should appear when Terry does his next refresh.