Scripophily is the hobby of collecting
of historical financial documents. What better hobby for a financially
savvy and frugal person than collecting old financial documents like
stocks and bonds. The Thrift Meister enjoys this hobby and
recommends it to others. While some financial documents can be expensive
there are still enough old stock certificates around that an individual
can start a collection without spending a whole lot of money. However,
with the current trend towards recording stock ownership in book entry
form and not issuing stock certificates the supply of old certificates
won't last forever. This section contains tips and links to related
sections on coin and stamping collecting at the bottom of the pa ge.
International Mercantile
Marine
Owner of the RMS Titanic
Wondering which share from the collection
to put on display for this section the Thrift Meister figured
the company with the most wide spread public appeal would be the company
which owned White Star Lines which owned the Titanic. Believing its
always interesting to know some of the history behind the documents
here is a brief history of the White Star Line.
The White Star Line got its start
in1845 as a ship brokering business known as the "White Star
Line of Boston Packets." It had a red swallow-tail burgee with
white star as its house flag.
In 1868 Thomas J. Ismay purchased
the name and "good will" of the company and in 1869 registered
the Oceanic Steam Navigation Co., but it was always known as The White
Star Line.
An agreement was made with Harland
& Wolff Shipbuilders to build all the White Star's vessels. In
the late 1800's the company introduced the "Oceanic" considered
the first modern ocean liner.
In the early 1900's American financier
John Pierpont Morgan purchased the White Star Line and its main shipping
rivals and put them under one holding company called International
Mercantile Marine. It was an American company, but the shipping lines
maintained their British registries and crews. Thomas Ismay stayed
on as the Managing Director of the White Star. The Cunard Line, its
ocean liner, rival was not part of IMM. Ismay later became President
of IMM.
Competition from the Cunard Line
and German lines which also started building great ocean liners was
tough so to meet this rising competition in 1907 the White Star Line
started building three Great luxury liners known as the "Olympic
Class Liners" which were named Olympic, Titanic, and Gigantic
later renamed the Britannic.
Ismay was on the Titanic's maiden
voyage and survived the ships sinking on April 15, 1912. The furor
over the sinking forced him into retirement and he lived until 1937
and died at the age of 74
IMM fortunes waxed and waned in
the coming years doing well at times and not so well during the war
years. In 1927 control of theWhite Star Line returned to British interests
when it was sold, renamed White Star Line, Ltd. and unofficially became
part of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company.
The Great Depression took a heavy
toll on the British luxury liner business and there wasn't enough
business for the two great rivals so the British government offered
to advance money to a single company in efforts to keep one British
luxury liner alive if the White Star and Cunard would merge so in
1934 they became one.
The Cunard had 62% of the new shares
and soon began phasing out White Star holdings and vessels. Double
house flags flew on new Cunard-White Star ships until 1957 when Cunard
bought the remaining White Star shares and finished phasing out White
Star holdings. By 1958 all traces of the White Star Line passed into
history being completely folded into the Cunard Line. Cunard went
on to produce the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.
In 1998 Cunard was in turn bought
out by Carnival Cruises which also owns Princess Cruises, Holland
America Line, Seabourn Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises,
P&O Cruises Australia,Windstar Cruises, Ocean Village, Swan Hellenicand,
AIDA, and A'ROSA.Carnival is the World's largest cruise line.
Today you can buy stock in Carnival
Cruises and own part of the on going legacy of White Star Lines and
the RMS Titanic.
* What Makes Certificates Valuable?
- Starting with the obvious as
in any collectibles the age, condition, and scarcity of the piece.
- Does it have the signature of
anyone famous or well known on it.
- The attractiveness of the vignette
(the engraved image)
* How do you determine if your old
certificate has any value?
- Check the certificate for the
name of the transfer agent and contact them. If they can't be found
then check to see what state the certificate was issued in and the
date then contact the Secretary of State in that state, and ask for
the Business Corporations Section. They should be able to help track
what happened to the company.
- R.M. Smythe (rm-smythe.com) and
Scripophily.com will both research the value of old certificates for
a fee.
* Most collections are build around a theme such
as a certain industry, geographic region, or country.
* One of the cheapest places to buy certificates
today is through Ebay auctions. Yahoo auctions also has a good number
listed for sale. A number of dealers can be found on the internet by
searching such terms as scripophily, old stock certificates, historical
financial documents, etc.
* Collecting historical financial documents is
a relatively new hobby as opposed to stamp and coin collecting. Links
to the Thrift Meister's tips on stamp and coin collecting are
below.
* Remember its about having fun, about enjoy the
detail and color on a fancy certificate or knowing the financial history
behind that certificate and being able to hold a piece of history in
your hand--if you make some money along the way that's great, but buy
the certificates because you enjoy them not because you expect to get
rich.
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