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Other noteworthy scripophily lots being offered at the Smythe's winter sale include:
Lot # 1099 - Edison Phonograph Works (NJ) 1888 [Estimate $2500 - $3500]. #24. 80600/1000 shs. Brown. Small eagle, bottom. Issued to and twice signed by ThomasEdison. Signed by him as president, and signed a second time by him on the back. Thesignature as president is lightly cancelled, the other signature is bold anduncancelled. EF. While Thomas Edison was not considered a profound scientific genius, he had atremendous talent for applying scientific principles to practical applications.In 1876, while experimenting with a needle attached to a telephone receiver,Edison discovered a method that reproduced sounds on a wax cylinder, and therecording industry was born. Edison's invention relied on mechanicalamplification, but by the 1920s his competitors were manufacturing electricallyamplified, higher fidelity phonographs. Edison was hard of hearing and could notappreciate the difference in sound quality. He refused to allow his sons towaste time and money to develop an improved electrically amplified phonograph, adecision that would have dire consequences for the Edison Phonograph Works.
Lot # 1198 - Boston, Massachusetts Feb. 22, 1787 [Estimate $2000 - $4000]. OneHundred Pounds. Mostly typeset receipt on laid paper. Issued to Elias Hasket Derby,Esquire. Signed "Edwin Payne & Son ". One -inch round glue mounting remnant on backonly, else VF+. After the Revolution, there was an economic depression throughout New England.Small property holders who could not pay their taxes faced imprisonment. Townmeetings talked of tax relief, and the issuance of paper money, but these issueswere opposed by the legislators. Daniel Shay emerged as the leader of alocalized rebellion which tried to close the courts in order to prevent actionagainst debtors. Neither the Federal government, nor the state, would supplymoney for the militia to put the rebellion down, but some $20,000 was borrowedfrom "private sources", probably through a subscription campaign. On January 25,1787, Shay and his supporters attacked a Confederation arsenal in Springfield,but they were repulsed by General Lincoln. Shay escaped to Vermont, and waseventually pardoned. This note is a receipt given to Elias Hasket Derby forpaying in the one hundred pounds subscribed by him to the "...Loan for procuringProvisions and Necessaries for the Militia ordered to Worcester..." A similaritem, dated three months later than this one, brought over $4,000 in ourSeptember 2003 auction.
Lot # 1220 - Potomac Company 1786 [Estimate $7500 - $12500] . #43. 25.3.3 Pounds.Receipt. Handwritten document. Receipt signed 11/17/1786 by Richardson Stuart forpayment of 25.3.3 Pounds by Potomack Navigation. Three of the directors have signedon the reverse: George Washington, John Fitzgerald and George Gilpin. EF.* Stuart was the manager of the construction operations of the firm. In September1784, Washington joined with others, then chiefly Virginians, to form thePotomac Company, whose purpose was to remove the impediments of the navigationof the river past the falls and so clear the way to the development of the landsbeyond, all the way to the Ohio. Washington, in common with others, heldsubstantial lands in the Trans-Alleghany region, and these men combined toinduce the legislatures of Maryland and Virginia to charter a canal company forthat purpose. The Potomac Company was only the second such corporation inAmerica, the Susquehanna Canal Company having been founded in the precedingyear. The Potomac Company started with a capital of 250 shares with a par valueof only $100. The shares were to be evenly divided between the citizens ofMaryland and Virginia, with Washington getting fifty shares that were given tohim gratis by the Commonwealth of Virginia. By May 1784, 403 shares had beensold and Washington was elected President with John Fitzgerald and George Gilpinamong the four other directors. Initially, the directors wanted to build thecanal and clear the river of obstructions only with free white labor. Butdespite liberal cash salaries and distributions of liquor, the work went slowly.As a result, Washington arranged for the purchase of 60 slaves and the hiring of100 freedmen, who could be better controlled. By 1786, a number of snags andother obstacles had been removed, and work was in progress at Shenandoah Falls,Harpers Ferry, Seneca Falls and Great Falls. In each of these places actualcanals were being built, but the wooden locks rotted and had to be replaced withstone. From 1785 to 1789 and again from 1797 to 1799, before and after hispresidency, Washington was active in the management of this firm. Progress wasslow, the amount of capital needed proving to be much larger than expected,reaching $500,000 in 1815. Robert Morris and John Nicholson bought large numbersof shares as part of their plans to develop their properties in the District ofColumbia. Since the canal paid only one dividend for $5.50 in 1802, despitehaving opened 338 miles to navigation, ownership of the canal was notprofitable. The company languished until the chartering of the Chesapeake andOhio Canal Company, which took over the Potomac Company's works.
Lot # 1302 - Standard Oil [Estimate $7500 - $12500] (OH) 1877. #122. 25 shs. Black.Capitol Building. Liberty with flag and sword ("The Standard Bearer"). The originalStandard Oil founded by John D. Rockefeller and signed by him three times, once aspresident, again on the transfer stub, and again on the reverse. Also signed byHenry Morrison Flagler as secretary. Lightly cancelled in red pen through thevignette and the officers' signatures, hardly distracting. An extremely importantpiece of American financial history representing the early days of one of America'smost significant industries. When it was first incorporated in 1870, shares in the original Standard Oil werevery tightly held. There were only five shareholders at its inception, and tenyears later there were only forty-one. Standard Oil was the world's largest oilrefiner, controlling 90% of the U.S. Oil business at that time. John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) was the dominant figure in the oil industryuntil his retirement in 1911. He started his business career as a bookkeeper,and by age 19 was a partner in a produce business. He began operating a smallrefinery with his partners, and quickly became alerted to the growing investmentpossibilities in what was then a fairly new industry. In 1870, he organized theStandard Oil Company of Ohio and proceeded to achieve control over 90% of theoil refineries in the country. Rockefeller had little interest in discoveringoil; he left that to wildcatters and other speculators. He concentrated on thetransportation, distribution and sale of petroleum products, building a fortuneestimated at over a billion dollars. Henry Morrison Flagler (1830-1913) with J.D. Rockefeller organized the FloridaEast Coast Railway (1886) and built great hotel resorts in St. Augustine andMiami (1892-1896).
Lot # 1396 - Accessory Transit (of Nicaragua) (NY) 1856 [Estimate $15000 - $25000].#12. $5000. Bearer Bond. Auxilliary ocean going steamship. Signed twice by CorneliusVanderbilt as president, and on the reverse. Not cancelled. John W. Amerman. NY.VF.* Cornelius "The Commodore" Vanderbilt (1794-1877) was an American financier andfounder of his family's fortune. At the age of 16 he bought a boat and ferriedpassangers and goods between Staten Island and Manhatten. He later made afortune in the steamship business, earning himself the nickname "Commodore." In1862 he sold his ships and turned to financing railroads, where he amassed agreater fortune estimated at $100,000,000 making him one of the richest men ofhis time. Accessory Transit was organized by Vanderbilt to move passangers andfreight to the West Coast through Nicaragua. Vanderbilt hired C.K. Garrison ashis agent through San Fransisco, and Charles Morgan as his agent in New York.Shortly after this bond was issued came the "war of the three commodores," betweenCharles Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt and George Law. Accessory Transit competedopenly with the Law-Aspinwall mail subsidy line. Morgan and Garrison, on the otherhand, manipulated the Transit's stock in such a way that they profited whileVanderbilt lost heavily. Vanderbilt is said to have stormed at them, "I will not sueyou because the law takes too long. I will ruin you."Vanderbilt did manage to unseat Morgan and Hoyt from the board of directors, butanother headache immediately developed in the form of William Walker, who invadedNicaragua with the support of Morgan and his Associate! William Walker made himselfPresident of Nicaragua. In order to get the money needed to keep a 1200 man armytogether, he took sides in the in-fighting within Accessory Transit Company.Foolishly backing those who had double crossed Commodore Vanderbilt, Walkerconfiscated the company assets and handed them over to the insurgent faction.Vanderbilt retaliated with a blockade, cutting Walker off from reinforcements whileinciting the neighboring states. Vanderbilt sent mercenaries to Costa Rica, wherethey obtained a small force of native troops to attack Walker. As a result Walkersuffered defeat and had to flee in May 1857. Vanderbilt was then back in businesswith Nicaragua.The first Accessory Transit Certificate signed by Cornelius Vanderbilt that we havesold in over a decade. A museum quality certificate that may not be obtainable againin a lifetime of collecting.
"We are seeing some very strong pre-sale interest in many of the featured lots beingoffered in our winter sale." said Mary Herzog, Vice President of R. M. Smythe &Co."If a collector is interested in a particular lot, I would encourage them to useour Web site to place a bid now, because we are expecting heavy bidding activityduring the sale."
Lots will be available for viewing at Smythe s offices at 2 Rector Street, in NewYork City, by appointment only. To arrange for an appointment call R. M.Smythe & Co.at 800-622-1880. For updates on this auction check Smythe s website atsmytheonline.com. This auction will be conducted with eBay Live/LiveAuctioneers. Acomplete catalog of all 1310 lots including photos and estimates can be viewedonline at: http://static.smytheonline.com / . Select "Current Auctions" in the leftcolumn.
Accredited media interested in scheduling an interview to discuss this release orpast & upcoming auctions are encouraged to contact Mary Herzog at 212-943-1880. Highresolution photos are also available upon request.
About R. M. Smythe & Co.R. M. Smythe and Co., established in 1880, buys, sells, and auctions coins, papermoney, stocks and bonds and autographs at their corporate headquarters at 2 RectorStreet in the heart of the Financial District in New York City. To order a catalog,to contact any of the firm s specialists, or to make general inquiries, call212-943-1880 or 800-622-1880, or visit the firm s website at:http://www.smytheonline.co m.
