Some Specimen Stocks And Bonds

Excellent specimen and very attractive, GregAlex! Interesting history, great color, intricate "spirograph" border, fantastic vignette - it's a real winner!

At long last, I was able to obtain a specimen printed by Jeffries Banknote Co. This was a smaller security printer based in Los Angeles, which tended to print West Coast products. One of their most famous projects was printing all the engraved admission tickets for the 1932 Olympic Games. They were around from 1894 until 1989, when they were bought by U.S. Banknote Corp. By then the quality of their engraving was lagging. This stock was probably done in the 1940s.

I haven't had much luck in finding specimens at reasonable prices, but managed to pick up this one recently. Duquesne Light Company has a surprising number of specimens on the market, but this is the first type I've seen with this vignette. Printed by Republic Bank Note Co., a small securities printer that was based in Pittsburgh.

Very nice, Junius! I have another Duquesne specimen to add to the mix -- this one is more modern.

Here's a recent addition for this topic. I thought about including it in the Oil & Gas thread, but it fits in the specimen category. Printed by Hamilton Bank Note Co., if you can't read the punched lettering.

In a lucky coincidence, I was able to purchase the steel die with the vignette of the oil derrick from this stock certificate! You'll notice the image is reversed.

The plate is just over 3/16" thick and weighs It looks to be in pretty good shape for its age -- a spot of corrosion, but not close to the engraving. I have a friend who has a spider press and I'm going to have him pull a few intaglio prints to see if they come out okay. I'll post the results. Fingers crossed!

This one doesn't have the typical markings of a specimen, but you'll note it has no serial number, which is a tip-off. The other indicator is the manuscript under the vignette. Here's my interpretation:

Vault 228-2 (where the printing plate was stored); 2 on (probably indicating these were printed in pairs); less 100 (the plate was to be printed on a certificate frame for "Less Than 100 shares").

Very nice!