History

The first shares (and trading in them) go back to 2000 BC, but trading in the sense we know it dates from around 1000 AD, in the Italian port of Amalfi, where maritime ventures were divided into shares, which could be bought and sold. This form of maritime share continued until the 19th century, and was the basis for the initial finance of companies such as the East India Companies. Bonds were first issued in Italy; those of the City of Florence were certainly traded before 1328. The earliest companies did not issue ownership certificates, but entered holdings in a register, just issuing a receipt for the money, and often a certificate of entry in the stock register. The 16th century saw bonds from England, France, Holland and Germany, and the first exchanges for organised trading. The first such exchange was in Antwerp, and others soon followed in Amsterdam and other major cities in Europe.

The earliest 'joint stock company' is believed to be a Swedish mining company formed in the 14th century, but few others appeared before 1600. About that time, the first of the great trading companies were founded in Holland, England and France. The earliest collectible bonds and shares, mainly from England, France, Holland and Italy, date from the late 17th century. More collectible material exists from the 18th century, almost all of it from these four countries and Spain, Portugal, Belgium and the U.S.A..

The period 1800-1940 is the source of the great majority of the pieces we can collect. Fine certificates illustrate graphically the development of railroads, oil, aviation and the automotive industry in the United States, banking, insurance, shipping, canals and railways in Europe, metal mining in the Americas and the British and French Empires, and consumer businesses such as brewing, sugar production, tobacco and textiles. The investments of great financiers and 'robber barons' can be traced through the stock certificates they owned.

The occasional modern share is also sought by collectors, if of particular interesting design or a well known company name. Printed shares today are gradually being discontinued in line with modern electronic trading practice.

 Starting a collection

The best overall advice to a new collector is - be patient! Do not rush into buying a large quantity without some idea of what sort of collection you want to build. Otherwise you may find yourself holding an accumulation of miscellaneous certificates, rather like a child's stamp collection, with bits and pieces of everything. This will not give a lot of pleasure or satisfaction, nor will it prove a good investment.

It is vital to learn about the subject, get in touch with dealers, join a society, read books and magazines, talk to other collectors, look at old auction catalogues, buy just a few pieces. The forthcoming I.B.S.S. Bibliography of Scripophily lists more than 80 scripophily books. Then, with your preferences well defined, you can start building a collection tailor-made to your interests and budget. Collectors will be happy to discuss this with you. So will a good dealer; while he would doubtless like you to be a customer, he will be willing to take a long term view.

Most new collectors soon see the wisdom of choosing a theme to collect. The range of the themes is almost endless, since bonds and shares reflect almost every aspect of economic history.

Collecting themes

Many collectors favour themes such as railways, autos or mining. These offer a very wide range of material, and some further specialisation is needed. In the case of railways, collectors often choose their own country or region. Autos are often collected by country or date. Mining collectors choose either their country/region or a type of mining - gold, diamonds, coal, etc. The smaller fields - oil, tobacco, tramways, textiles, engineering, electricity, water, coffee & tea, and a hundred others - are small enough for a collector to build a world-wide collection.