1886. Ohio. Stock certificate for 1 share. Black/White. Pen cancelled in red. Very fine.

1887, New Jersey. Stock certificate for 5 shares. Black. Vignette of a steam locomotive at top center. Litho. Issued to and signed on verso by GEORGE F. BAKER (1840-1931). Banker; Philanthropist. Starting as a clerk in New York state's banking department in 1856, the clever and industrious Baker quickly came to the notice of many of the state's prominent bankers. By 1863, he had been lured from state employment, and was one of the founders of the First National Bank of New York, a bank that would become the most prominent of all banks under the new national banking system. During the Panic of 1873, he was largely responsible for keeping the bank afloat, and it was during this period that the bank began to more fully adopt Baker's philosophy and become a "banker's bank." Baker became the bank's second president in 1877, and aggressively continued the bank's policy of developing connections with great business corporations, both in the U.S. and overseas. A man of boundless energy, Baker sat on the boards of many corporations in a wide variety of industries, at one point sitting on some 87 boards simultaneously. At its height, his fortune was estimated at some $200 million but, at his death, after many years of donations to schools, libraries, museums, hospitals, churches, etc. his estate was valued at a mere $73.5 million. Stamp cancelled. Very Fine.

1899, Colorado. Stock certificate for 150 shares. Green/Black with attached embossed gold company seal. Cripple Creek and Leadville Mining District. Vignette at top center of miners at work. Stamp and pen cancelled. Very Fine.

[SPECIMEN] ----, Massachusetts. Stock Certificate In High Income Advantage Trust II. Purple / Black. Vignette of an allegorical male at lower right. Perforation cancellation at signatures and at left. Very Fine.

1864, New York. Stock certificate for 60 shares. Black. Vignette of a mythic female with sword and shield under large tree at left. Issued to August Belmont though not signed by him. Adhesive revenue stamp. Pen cancelled. An early certificate issued to August Belmont with wonderful graphics. Pen cancelled. VF.

1912, Hilo, Hawaii. Stock certifcate for 15 shares. Nice early Hawaii telephone stock. Black. Very Fine.

1896, New York. Important lot of twenty-three Northern Pacific Stocks, #059140, 059147-059159, 059164, 059166, 059173. Brown. Vignette of locomotive at center. Total purchase was for a staggering 332,885 shares! Attached to verso of stock #059173 is a transfer receipt Signed, “J.P. Morgan.” [JOHN PIERPONT MORGAN JR. (1867-1943). American financier and heir to J.P Morgan.] New York. May 7, 1897. Compounding the effects of mismanagement and low traffic, the Panic of 1893 threw the Northern Pacific railroad into bankruptcy and sparked an ongoing battle for control of the company among many of its prominent officers. This bitter struggle finally came to a head in 1896 when the company found itself under the guidance of two presidents in less than three months! In a historic move, J.P. Morgan took charge of refinancing and reorganizing the floundering railroad. Successfully allying with James J. Hill’s Great Northern system despite a protracted legal battle concerning the Sherman Antitrust law, Morgan, as he had with other struggling U.S. roads in the wake of the Panic of 1893, steered the Northern Pacific through “Morganization” and returned the long struggling railroad to profitability. The transferred shares in this extremely large transaction comprise a significant portion of Morgan’s holdings in the Northern Pacific during a transformative period of “Morganization” that ultimately brought that company back from a ruinous bankruptcy. An extraordinary piece of financial history so important to the re-organization of the company.

1881, California. Stock certificate for 25 shares. Black. Vignette at top center of the "El Capitan" mountain summit. Mine located at Hite's Cove, Mariposa County, California. Ink spot at lower left and some minor age toning. Uncancelled and fine.

1887, Maryland. Stock certificate for 33 shares. Black. Vignette of an elegant home with a well-to-do family walking in the foreground. Litho. A few file punch holes at left. Scarce insurance stock. Uncancelled and Extremely Fine.