On Collecting Old Stocks and Bonds

Ownership in shares of businesses is believed to go back to at least 2000 BC. In Rome in the second century BC there was active trading in the shares of business companies which were legal entities, some of them huge enterprises owning thousands of slaves. These companies faded away during Rome's Imperial period and their like did not reappear until after the Dark Ages.

The modern history of shares dates from the late 10th century AD, in the Italian port of Amalfi, where maritime ventures were divided into shares which were bought and sold, usually by their captains and merchants.

This became the normal way to fund voyages throughout Europe. The Pilgrim Fathers' Mayflower and Sir Francis Drake's global voyages were funded in this way. These ventures were not companies with a legal status independent of their owners, however, but a form of unincorporated partnership.

Pictured: Italian Mining Stock. Coupons at bottom. Only 1 available! Great! Country: Italy
Year: 1849

For more information visit our web site, http://www.glabarre.com, or call George LaBarre at 1-800-717-9529.

George H. LaBarre Galleries - Collectible Stocks and Bonds
http://www.glabarre.com


The Scripophily Guide by Howard Shakespeare. Reprinted with permission from International Bond & Share Society

About Old Bonds

A bond certificate, like a share, is an 'evidence of title;' a document given to an investor as evidence of ownership of an amount of invested capital. It does not in itself prove ownership.

• Bonds are issued, not only by businesses, but also by national, state, or city governments, or other public bodies, or sometimes by individuals.
• Bonds are a loan to the company or other body; they are normally repayable within a stated period.
• Bonds earn interest at a fixed rate, which must usually be paid by the undertaking regardless of its financial results.
• A bondholder is a creditor of the undertaking.

For more information visit our web site, http://www.glabarre.com, or call George LaBarre at 1-800-717-9529.

George H. LaBarre Galleries - Collectible Old Stocks and Bonds and Old Stocks and Bonds
http://www.glabarre.com A foreign antique stock and bond company.

The Scripophily Guide by Howard Shakespeare. Reprinted with permission from International Bond & Share Society

About Old Shares

A share certificate is an 'evidence of title;' a document given to an investor as evidence of ownership of an amount of invested capital. It does not in itself prove ownership. Newcomers to scripophily often want to know the difference.

• Shares are issued by businesses (usually companies)
• Shares form part of the permanent finance of a business. Normally, they are never repaid, and the investor can recover his money only by selling to another investor.
• Most shares earn dividends, at the business' discretion, depending on how well it has traded.,
• A shareholder is a part-owner of the business.

For more information visit our web site, http://www.glabarre.com, or call George LaBarre at 1-800-717-9529.

George H. LaBarre Galleries - Collectible Old Stocks and Bonds and Old Stocks and Bonds
http://www.glabarre.com A foreign antique stock and bond company.

The Scripophily Guide by Howard Shakespeare. Reprinted with permission from International Bond & Share Society

About Old Stocks and Shares Certificates

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Here is an explanation of some differences in the use of the words 'stock' and 'share' across the centuries and currently in Britain and in the USA, When the first English 'joint stock companies' were formed in the 16th century, stock meant the owners' capital in the company -- what we now call equity. This stock was divided into parts or shares.

In the 19th century, American certificates for shares of stock were at first called c=share certificates, but later came to be called stock certificates (even though 'shares' are often mentioned in the text of the certificates).

The British continued to call them share certificates, even though they trade them through stockbrokers in a stock exchange. 'Stock' in Britain now generally means loan capital -- loan stock, debenture stock, or government stock.

For more information visit our web site, http://www.glabarre.com, or call George LaBarre at 1-800-717-9529.

George H. LaBarre Galleries - Collectible Stocks and Bonds and Old Stocks and Bonds
http://www.glabarre.com

The Scripophily Guide by Howard Shakespeare. Reprinted with permission from International Bond & Share Society