UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT SPRINGFIELD
ARCHIVES/SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Don Springer Collection of Historical Financial Documents, 1717-1967
 

MC 91
Don Springer Collection of Historical Financial Documents, 1717-1967
27 items

Series I: Gift of 2003

Item 1.
Louis XVI, King of France, 1754-1793.
    Bond, “Rentes Viagère sur une ou deux Têtes à différens Derniers,” 1782.
    1 leaf, 14” x 20,” framed.

Bond issued in accordance with a 1782 edict of King Louis XVI, providing the bearer an annuity in exchange for loans to the royal treasury. Bankrupted by years of war with Britain as well as by its military support of the United States during the American Revolution, France aggressively sought to finance its huge national debt. These bonds were secured by taxes on alcohol and salt, which were bitterly resented by the common people and contributed to the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789.

The bonds offered a substantial return (9-12% per annum) but in the end only worsened France’s debt.
 

The document is printed, with added handwriting and signatures, and headed with an official ink stamp (“Expeditions pour le Roi”).

Gift of Don Springer, 2003.

Item 2.
Empire of Mexico.
    Bond for Public Foreign Mexican Debt, 1864.
    1 item, 12” x 17.”

Bond for 50 British pounds or 1260 francs against the Mexican national debt, issued by the government of Emperor Maximilian I.

Archduke Maximilian, from the Austrian House of Habsburg, was installed as the Emperor of Mexico by the troops of the French Emperor Napoleon III in 1863, but was deposed and executed in 1867.

This bond, bearing coupons for an annual dividend of 3 pounds (three of which are clipped), was one of many issued in Paris and London by Maximilian’s regime as an attempt to raise 200 million francs to defray the cost of France’s military support. The issue was poorly subscribed and the loan’s failure helped seal the downfall of Maximilian.

Gift of Don Springer, 2003.

Item 3.
Gould, Jay, 1836-1892.
    Stock Certificate, Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railway Company, 1881.
    1 item, 11.5” x 8.”
 

Certificate for 100 shares of capital stock in the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railway Company issued to Jay Gould, dated 17 June 1881.

Gould was one of the first and most famous of the railroad “Robber Barons.” He was the president and director of many railroad and telegraph companies, including the MKT, whose trains had the distinction of being a favorite target of the Dalton Gang.

The certificate includes a decorative engraving of cattle and a cowboy.

Gift of Don Springer, 2003.


Item 4.
Insull, Samuel, 1859-1938.
    Stock Certificate, Louisville and Northern Railway and Lighting Company, 1907.
    1 item, 11” x 8.”

Certificate for 37 shares of common stock in the Louisville and Northern Railway and Lighting Company issued to F. R. Willey of Pomona, California, dated 12 September 1907 and signed by the company’s treasurer and its president, Samuel Insull.

Insull, once Thomas Edison’s personal secretary, headed a succession of electric trolley and utility companies, including Commonwealth Edison, and created a notorious “bubble” of financial speculation in the 1920s that burst after the stock market crash of 1929. “Insull Stock” became a symbol of financial ruin during the Great Depression.

The certificate features engravings of an Edison electric streetcar and two Edison light bulbs.

Gift of Don Springer, 2003.

Item 5.
Getty, Jean Paul, 1892-1976.
    Bank Draft, to John Bell & Croyden, 1967.
    1 item, 8’ x 4”, framed.

Check dated 18 October 1967 for nine shillings and ten pence, drawn on the Chase Manhattan Bank of London. The payee is John Bell & Croyden, a London pharmacy. The check bears the signature of the payer, J. Paul Getty, a famous oil tycoon and one of the richest men of his time. The check shows the cancellation stamp of Barclay Bank Ltd.
 

Gift of Don Springer, 2003.


Series II: Gift of 2004

Item 6.
Company of the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike
    Stock certificate, 1795
    8.5” x 7.5”

Certificate for $743 of stock in the Company of the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, issued to Joseph Walker of Philadelphia in 1795. Signed by the Company’s president, William Bingham.

The Company of the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike was organized in 1792. The first President and Manager was William Bingham (1752-1804), the richest man in America and founder in 1781 of the Bank of North America, the first bank organized in the U.S. The Lancaster Pike was the first major paved road in America, built with a roadbed of crushed stone following a method developed by the Scottish engineer John MacAdam.

Printed and handwritten on vellum. The certificate bears an engraved vignette of a Conestoga wagon approaching a turnpike, and is said to be one of the first American stock certificates featuring a vignette.

Gift of Don Springer, 2004


Item 7.
Russia. Nicholas Railroad.
    Bond, 1869.
    12” x 15,” framed.

Bond for 120 rubles/500 francs/20 pounds sterling, one of 550,500 bonds issued by the Russian government in 1869 to finance the Nicholas Railroad, named after Czar Nicholas I (d. 1855), in whose reign Russia’s rail network was first planned and began construction.

The bond bears an engraving of the Russian Imperial Double Eagle. The recto contains Russian text, and the verso contains French and English text.

Gift of Don Springer, 2004.


Item 8.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa Falls and Northwestern Railway Company.
    Bond, 1884
    14” x 10”, 3 sheets.

Bearer bond for $1000 with 80 coupons, issued in 1884 to finance construction of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Falls and Northwestern Railway Company. This railway was under the control of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railroad, and extended from Spirit Lake, Iowa into southern Minnesota and was completed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1886.

The bond is not signed or endorsed.

Gift of Don Springer, 2004
 

Item 9.
Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interocéanique de Panama
    Bond, 1886
    7" x 6.5", framed

Bearer bond for 500 francs of the debt of the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interocéanique de Panama, which was organized in 1880 to build a sea-level canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The president of the company was Ferdinand de Lesseps (1805-1894), who had successfully constructed the Suez Canal. The Panama project was beset with financial, geological and labor problems, and its workers were ravaged by tropical diseases. In 1889 the company was liquidated, and de Lesseps and his son were charged and convicted of embezzlement. However, the work completed by the French made possible the later completion of the Panama Canal by the United States in 1914.

The bond includes decorative engravings of allegorial figures representing the continents, and the engraved signature of Ferdinand de Lesseps.

Gift of Don Springer, 2004.

 

Item 10.
Carthage and Adirondack Railway Co.
    Bond, 1892
    10.5" x 15", framed

Mortgage bond for $1000, issued in New York City, December 1, 1892. Vertical format without coupons. Features engraved vignettes of a steam engine and a buck with antlers. Signed and attested by A. G. Cox (president) and Allen Cox (secretary). The Carthage and Adirondack Railway Co. was founded in 1883 and was acquired by the New York Central and Hudson Valley Railroad in 1913.

Gift of Don Springer, 2004.


Item 11.
Northern Alabama Coal, Iron and Railway Co.
    Bond, 1899
    9.5" x 14”, 3 sheets

Bearer bond for $1000 issued in 1899 by the Northern Alabama Coal, Iron and Railway Co. Vertical format with engraved vignettes of coal miners and steam engines, and including two sheets of coupons (one clipped). Signed and attested by John Carlson (secretary) and E. Zimmerman (president).

Treasury note issued to Jireh Swift for the receipt of nineteen pounds and six shillings by the "State of Massachusetts-Bay," dated 1 December 1777. Massachusetts Treasurer Henry Gardner witnessed the note.

Beginning in 1775, Massachusetts was the first state to issue loan certificates to finance its operations during the American Revolution. The state issued this series of notes, which paid lenders 6 per cent interest, in order to borrow £100,000. The notes were engraved and printed by Paul Revere (although his name does not appear on them), and bore the warning "DEATH TO COUNTERFEIT THIS."

Gift of Don Springer, 2005.

Item 14.
Great Republic Gold and Silver Mining Company.
    Bond, 1867.
    13" x 16."

Bearer bond for £50 to finance the first mortgage of the Great Republic Gold and Silver Mining Company, incorporated in 1867. The bond, bearing seven per cent interest and maturing in 1873, includes twelve coupons, one of which is clipped. At the time this bond was issued, the Great Republic Gold and Silver Mining Company of Norfolk, Virginia operated five gold and silver mines in Nevada.

The bond includes engraved vignettes showing the goddess Liberty with the U.S. Capitol in the background, Queen Victoria, Abraham Lincoln, and smelting machinery.

Gift of Don Springer, 2005.

Item 15.
Oregon and Transcontinental Company.
    Stock Certificate, 1882.
    11" x 7"

Certificate for 1000 shares of common stock in the Oregon and Transcontinental Company, issued to Henry Villard. The certificate is signed by the Company's Treasurer Joseph Simon and Vice-President Anthony Johnson II and is dated 2 November 1882.

Henry Villard (1835-1900) was a prominent German-born financier and entrepreneur, who played a central role in the development of railroads in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, was an early partner of Thomas Edison, and played an important role in the development of General Electric. Villard at various times acted as president of several Pacific Northwest railroads, president of Edison General Electric, owner of the New York Evening Post, and was the founder of North American Company. The Oregon and Transcontinental Company, founded in 1871, was a holding company for the Northwest train and steamship lines of which Villard was president.

The engraved vignette on the certificate shows two Native Americans on a hilltop observing the distant approach of locomotives and steamships.

Gift of Don Springer, 2005.


Series IV: Gift of 2006

Item 16.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
    Patent, 1794.
    20.5" x 10.5"

Patent for a 1,100 acre tract in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania known as "Rochester," sold to William Bingham in exchange for a warrant issued to Robert Gilmore in 1792 plus a payment of five pounds, eleven shillings and six pence. The document, printed and handwritten on vellum, is dated 30 October 1794 and was signed and witnessed by Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Mifflin on 15 December 1794.

William Bingham (1752-1804) was known in his time as the richest man in America and in 1781 founded the Bank of North America, the first bank organized in the U.S. (See item 6 above).

The vellum document bears the Pennsylvania state seal and on the back shows the assignment of the land by Bingham to Robert Morris and John Nicholson in 1795. Robert Morris is known as the "financier of the American Revolution" and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, as was Thomas Mifflin.

Gift of Don Springer, 2006.

Item 17.
Australasian Pacific Mail Steam Packet Company.
    Stock Certificate, 1852.
    8.25" x 6.5"

Certificate for a £20 share in the Australasian Pacific Mail Steam Packet Company issued to Thomas Baring of Bishopgate Street, London, dated 12 October 1852. Engraved with an embossed seal.

Thomas Baring (1799-1873), a longtime member of Parliament, belonged to the dynasty that operated London's famous Baring Bank from 1762 to 1995. Baring Bank was long a major force in international finance: it helped finance the Union during the Civil War, financed many U.S. railroads, and finally fell in an massive embezzlement scandal in 1995.

The Australasian Pacific Mail Steam Packet Company, formed in 1852, was absorbed in 1861 by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, which operated until 1972.

Gift of Don Springer, 2006.

Items 18 and 19.
Parrot Silver and Copper Company.
    Stock Certificates, 1899, 1909
    11.25" x 7.25"; 11.5 x 8.25"

Two certificates for common stock in the Parrot Silver and Copper Company of Montana. The first, dated 2 March 1899, was issued to F. M. Tucker & Co. for ten $10 shares of capital stock. The back shows the assignment of five shares to Frank Seabury on 4 March 1899. The second certificate, dated 31 March 1909, was issued to Richardson Hill for five $10 shares of capital stock and the back shows the assignment of the shares to John W. May on 28 June 1909.

The Parrot mine was opened near Butte, Montana in 1864 and was named after R.R. Parrot, a local attorney. By 1889 the Parrot Silver & Copper Company was removing 260 tons of copper/silver ore a day. While the Parrot Silver & Copper Company continued to operate the mine, it became part of the Amalgamated holdings (associated with William Rockefeller of Standard Oil) in 1899. During the period of primary production, 1884 to 1910, miners extracted almost 300 million pounds of copper from the Parrot Mine.

The 1899 certificate bears a vignette of a parrot. The 1909 certificate features an elaborate engraved border.

Gift of Don Springer, 2006.

Series V. Gift of 2007.

Item 20.
Fernandina and Jacksonville Railroad Company.
Bond, 1880
1 folio, 23" x 14 1/2"

Bearer bond in the amount of $1000 in the Fernandina and Jacksonville Railroad Co. of Florida. The bond is signed by the company's president, J. W. Fellows and the secretary, E. N. Dickerson, Jr. On the verso, the bond is certified with signatures of three trustees, including Edward H. Harriman. Harriman (1848-1909) was a leading figure in the development and finance of railroads and a shrewd stock market investor. His involvement in the expansion of major railroads, such as the Union Pacific, Illinois Central, and Chicago and Alton railroads, and successful financial struggles with rivals such as J. P. Morgan and J. J. Hill, earned him the popular title of "Napoleon of the Rails."

The bond bears a small but detailed engraved vignette of a steam locomotive, and elaborate border, and 40 unclipped coupons.

Gift of Don Springer, 2007.

Item 21.
Wilmington and Northern Railroad Company.
Mortgage Bond, 1887
2 leaves, 13” x 10”

Bond for $500 issued in 1887 to finance a $1 million mortgage of the Wilmington and Northern Railroad. The bond is signed by the company’s president, Henry Algernon DuPont.

DuPont (1838-1826), a member of the prominent DuPont family of Delaware, initially pursued a military career, attending West Point and serving bravely in the Shenandoah Valley campaign during the Civil War. He left military service in 1875, and became involved in his family’s business interests, acting as president of the Wilmington and Northern from 1879 to 1899. He later served two terms in the U.S. Senate, 1906-1917.

The bond bears finely detailed engraved vignettes of steam locomotives, a seaport,and cattle, and an elaborate border. The verso shows transfers of the bond to 1918; the second leaf shows extensions from 1927 to 1972.

Gift of Don Springer, 2007.

Item 22.
Northern Pacific Railroad Company.
Stock Certificate, 1896
10 ¾” x 7 ½”

Certificate for ten shares of common stock connected with the reorganization of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company by the firm of J. P. Morgan and others in 1896.

The Northern Pacific Railroad was chartered in 1864 to build a line from Lake Superior to the Pacific Coast. The railroad was granted 57 million acres to construct the line through the northern Great Plains and Rockies – terrain General William T. Sherman described as “bad as God ever made, or any one could scrape up this side of Africa.” 

By 1871 the line was being surveyed through Sioux lands in the Black Hills, and Sitting Bull and others attacked the surveyors and white settlers and caused the dispatch of federal troops to the area. These incidents led to the Black Hills War and the defeat of Custer by Sitting Bull at Little Bighorn in 1876.

Despite these and additional financial setbacks, the Northern Pacific Railroad was completed in 1883. Sitting Bull delivered a bitter speech at the opening ceremonies. The railroad fell into receivership in 1893 and was reorganized soon after by J.P. Morgan and others.

The certificate bears a small vignette of a young woman holding a feather and pillow.

Gift of Don Springer, 2007.

Iitem 23.
International Mercantile Marine Company.
Stock Certificate, 1908
11 1/2 “ x 8” and newspaper facsimile

Certificate for ten shares of common stock in the International Mercantile Marine Company, founded by J. P. Morgan in 1902 and the parent company of the White Star Line. The sinking of White Star’s great passenger liner Titanic on its maiden voyage in 1912 caused Morgan one of the greatest losses of his financial career.

The bond bears an engraved red border and a vignette of an allegorical goddess holding scales, flanked by globes showing the Western and Eastern hemispheres.

Also included is a facsimile of the New York Tribune of 16 April 1912, reporting the sinking of the Titanic.

Gift of Don Springer, 2007.

Item 24.
Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company.
Stock Certificate, 1920
12” x 8”

Certificate for fifty shares of capital stock in the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, issued to Keybourn and Croft on 19 September 1919.

Italian radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi founded the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company in 1897, which was renamed the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company in 1900. Marconi and his company made the first trans-Atlantic radio transmissions in 1901-02. In 1919 the U.S. Navy seized the assets of the British Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. in order to keep radio technology in American hands. The assets were assigned to the newly-formed company RCA (Radio Corporation of America), whose president, David Sarnoff, had started as a Marconi radio operator.

The certificate bears a green engraved border and a vignette of an allegorical goddess holding scales, flanked by globes showing the Western and Eastern hemispheres and oil rigs. (The vignette is almost identical to the one in item 23 above.)

Gift of Don Springer, 2007.

Item 25.
Mission Development Company.
Stock Certificate, 1954
12" x 7 3/4".

Certificate for one share of common stock in the Mission Development Company, dated 26 November 1954. The certificate bears the printed signature of the company's president, oil tycoon J. Paul Getty.

The Mission Development Company was created in 1945 to leverage Getty's takeover of a rival, Tidewater Oil. After Getty succeeded in gaining control of Tidewater, he merged Mission Development into Getty Oil.

The certificate bears a vignette of an allegorical goddess with sword, shield, and a cornucopia spilling coin.

Gift of Don Springer, 2007.

Series VI: Gift of 2008

Item 26.
Real Compania de Comercio Establecida en Barcelona.
Stock Certificate, 1758.
11.75" x 15.5"

Certificate for 250 pesos of stock in the “Real Compania de Comercio Establecida en Barcelona” (Royal Trade Company of Barcelona) issued to Don Pedro Sahavedra Barnuevo of Valencia on 3 July 1758.

The "Real Compania de Comercio” was established in 1755, under royal patronage. It was founded with a capitalization of 1,000,000 pesos comprised of 4,000 shares at 250 pesos each, of which only 1,785 were purchased by investors. The company was granted a monopoly on trade with Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico and Venezuela’s Isla Margarita. Trade with these islands was relatively poor, and the company could not pay dividends to investors until 1771. The company was finally absorbed by the Royal Trading Company of the Philippines in 1785.

The engraved certificate, in Spanish, is printed on vellum, and signed by directors of the company, with an ornate paper seal at the bottom. The uncolored engraving features a prospect of the city and harbor of Barcelona, with sailing ships. The decorative border includes cherubs, sea monsters, and a trident. The heading includes the seals of Spain and Catalonia, and religious figures, including the Virgin and Christ child, saints, and a pope and friar. On the bottom margin are the names of the artist, Emmanuel Tramullas, and engraver/printer, Ignatius Valls.

Gift of Don Springer, 2008.

Series VII: Gift of 2009

Item 27.
Board of Directors for the Muscovite Trade (Directie van de Moscovische handel).
Bond, 1717
8" x 12 3/4"

Bond for 1000 Guilders issued to Toon der Duses by the Directie van de Moscovische handel (Board of Directors for the Muscovite Trade.) This bond was related to an effort to raise 65,000 Guilders to advance trade with Russia, authorized by the States General of the United Netherlands and the City of Amsterdam. The bonds were secured by a 0.5% duty on goods imported or exported to Russia and were to be repaid within six months at a rate of 4% interest.

England had a head start developing trade with Russia with the founding of the English Muscovy Company in 1555, but it was the Dutch who dominated Russian trade throughout the 17th century. Holland desperately needed masts, lumber, hemp and other materials produced in Russia to build and maintain its naval and merchant fleets. In 1697-98 and again in 1717 the reformist Tsar Peter the Great visited the Netherlands, which he viewed as the model of a modern seagoing power. Peter not only favored Dutch commerce, but he employed large numbers of Hollanders in the building and training of his fleet and in the construction of waterways and roads in Russia. The Board of Directors for the Muscovite Trade was formed by the Dutch government at the time of Peter's first visit. This bond coincides with Peters's 1717 visit, during which he and the Netherlands reaffirmed their commercial ties.

The document, dated 4 May 1717, is printed in Dutch on the front of a bifolio and bears an embossed lion seal of the United Netherlands and the signatures of the Board of Directors: Egbert Thesing, Arnoldus Dix, Christoffel Brants, Nicolaas Warin, and Leonard Van Hoesen. The reverse notes two interest payments made on the bond in 1718.

One of the Directors, Christoffel Brants (1664-1732) was particularly friendly with Tsar Peter. The Brants family had longstanding trading connections with Russia, and Christoffel, who supplied muskets to Peter during his victorious military campaigns against Swedish forces in 1707-09, was awarded a Russian peerage by Peter in 1717. Brants's house in Amsterdam, where he received Peter as a guest, still stands and is a historic site.

Gift of Don Springer, 2009.

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