Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Ypres exhibits its rail history archives

Did you know that Ypres counted several railroad stations and 2 types of rail gauges were in use ? All of this and much more can be discovered in the new exhibition set up by the city's archives office. Good to know, the exposition features a handful of old shares and bonds of the first railway companies serving the city of Ypres and its neighbourhood.


Railroads and tramways in Ypres
The "Railroads and tramways in Ypres" exhibition (Dutch: "Trein en tram in Ieper") showcases photograps, postcards, design documents, and other material from the archives of Ypres. Images of  railway certificates, not the actual shares and bonds, are present too.

Click to enlarge

Details for this free entrance exhibition
  • The exhibition runs from Sep 9th until Oct 10th, 2011.
  • opening hours : 9.30 - 18.00 (saturday 13.00-17.00)
  • free entrance
  • address : CC Het Perron, Fochlaan 1, Ypres
Lille-Flandres, in the north of France, is the nearest high-speed rail service station. From there, a regular rail service via Kortrijk, takes you to Ypres in about 90 minutes, whereas a more straight route by car brings you on the spot in about half an hour. So, if you are planning a city trip, then a visit to the exposition can be a nice diversification.



F.L.

NB : Signed the Guest book yet?


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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Digest of scripophily readings I

Scripophily is gaining momentum on the Internet ... again ! I googled the word scripophily today with the following outcomes :
  • 470,000 results on web pages (50% related to Ebay)
  • 92,900 results on images
  • 26 results on videos
Ofcourse not all results are relevant to the serious collector, but still, the numbers are impressive. People are writing more about scripophily on the Internet. This posting will highlight newly discovered notable articles. You can expect similar posts on a  periodical basis.  If you don't like it, just tell me in the comments !

So, let's get on with it, here's the digest.

How I collect scripophily
An experienced and enthusiastic collector tells us about the joys, some why's and how-to's in his article, published as a part of the How I Collect series of The Ephemera Society of America.

Library Scripophily
.. is the latest posting on Larry T. Nix's Library History Buff Blog, see here. More library scripophily is shown here.

North American railroad certificates with price history details
Terry Cox offers an improved reporting page on price history details, see Price history details improved .

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Do you know what type of collector you are ?

Are you a mixed type or not ? Simply replace the word 'coin(s)' with 'scripophily' or 'certificate(s)' in this great article written by Ursula Kampmann. I am sure you will find some of your collecting friends described or even yourself. I'm looking forward to your reactions and comments !


The Nine Types of Coin Collectors
written by Ursula Kampmann
by courtesy of CoinsWeekly, Ursula Kampmann
copyright the MoneyMuseum, Dr. Jürg Conzett

You will find them everywhere in their natural surroundings: at coin shows, auction sales, in coin shops, at the flea market... But, there is only very few information about the genus of coin collector. It seems to form a part of the biological family of collectors, which for its part belongs – without any doubt – to the human beings. This is the first attempt to describe the nine hitherto known species of coin collectors.

Bank notes and coins depicting King George VI
detail from a certificate of
The National Finance Of India Ltd


The sex of the collector
The typical coin collector is male. There is at the most one serious female collector for every 1000 male collectors. Nobody has yet found a sensible explanation for why that should be so. Let us try therefore to find one by going back into the dim and distant past. In his hunt for the one and only coin that he wants for his collection, the man becomes the prehistoric hunter in search of prey. He wants to look out for, hunt and kill his prey and then take it back home. What happens after that does not interest him. He places the coin he has captured in a box where there are already many other coins which in past years spurred on his hunting instinct. His pleasure in collecting lies, with few exceptions, (compare the Self-exposer, the Researcher and the Historian) not in possessing something, but in the hunt.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Double denomination on Wildwood and Delaware Bay Short Line Railroad

There are several types of printing errors on bank notes, bonds and shares (or minting errors in coin collecting). A double denomination is a very special one. 

Train 1995 passing signal bridge.
Vignette on the 100 Shares certificate, see below, of the
Wildwood and Delaware Bay Short Line Railroad.
Wildwood and Delaware Bay Short Line Railroad
According to the 1932 edition of Moody's Steam Railroads, this company was incorporated May 10, 1910:
  • The capital stock $378,000 was divided in 7560 shares $50 each.
  • On Dec 1 of the same year the company issued a loan for $470,600, due Dec. 1, 1940. Surviving certificates of these bonds have not been reported yet.
The railroad was opened for traffic Dec. 12, 1912 . Indeed, this was a "short" line. Its 4.20 miles long line ran from Wildwood to Wildwood Junction, New Jersey. There, it connected with the Atlantic City Rail Road.


The line from Wildwood Junction to Wildwood
connected further to the Atlantic City Railroad.
Detail from map below, double-click to enlarge.
source : Moody's Steam Railroads 1932

WDBSL becomes part of the Reading railway system
We also read in Moody's Steam Railroads 1932 that the company became less and less profitable on its operational activities in the late 1920s. In 1929 the Great Crash on Wall Street initiated the Great Depression.

source : Moody's Steam Railroads 1932

The Atlantic City Railroad Company acquired control of the company in July 1930. This company purchased  $428,500 of the outstanding bonds and 52,5% of the shares. The Atlantic City RR in turn was a subsidiairy of the Reading Company. The latter also owned $36,300 of the Wildwood's Co's bonds.

Double-click to enlarge this map of the Reading railway system.
The Wildwood linelocated on the map in the lower right corner, 
eventually became part of the Reading railway system.
source : Moody's Steam Railroads 1932

Double denominations in scripophily
Many printing errors are caused by mechanical defects, such as a damaged impression cylinder and ink spills. Some errors are caused by human error, such as faulty alignments of printing designs or inverted backs. A special kind of error is the double denomination. In this case, on bank notes the face is printed with one denomination and the back with another denomination.  Apparently, such errors can occur on scripophily items too. In this example, two different denominations can be seen on the face.

share of the Wildwood and Delaware Bay Short Line Railroad company
100 Shares of $50, 1914
Wildwood and Delaware Bay Short Line RR
click to enlarge

This certificate for 100 shares of the Wildwood and Delaware Bay Short Line Railroad was issued in 1914. From the Moody's book we know it represented a par value of $50. Yet the green underprint clearly says "SHARES $100 EACH".
The other, correct denomination - 50 Dollars - is printed just under the main title, the company name.


Double denominations in scripophily are quite exceptional.
F.L.
Do you know of any other double denomination examples in scripophily?


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