Purpose of this project

COLLECTIBILITY

My stance is that at least one certificate must exist in order to be considered collectible.

At the end of 2024, I had cataloged slightly over 24,000 varieties and sub-varieties of railroad certificates plus I suspect encompasses over 98% percent of all railroad varieties that still exist.

I also cataloged more than 2,600 coal companies and companies that "sounded" like coal companies. I have no real good idea what percentage that might represent, but new finds have already slowed significantly. I'm we've identified 90% of available varieties.

A few correspondents have suggested I catalog ALL the different kinds of railroad certificates that ever existed, whether they are currently known or not. Other than the fact that the lack or unavailability of records makes that impossible, I wonder why 26,000 varieties of railroad certificates is insufficient.

On the left below is a highly-oxidized zinc plate that was used to print a a 100-share stock certificate of the Utica Chenango & Susquehanna Valley Railway Co. It is terribly difficult to read even in person. On the right is an odd-share certificate from the same series. I have never seen a listing for a collectible 100-share certificate, nor has anyone ever reported one to me. Even though the plate exists, I see no compelling reason to catalog the 100-sh certificate until one appears.

What about certificates locked away in museums and historical societies?

I catalog them when collectors report them to me because they DO EXIST, and hence, consider them "collectible."

Like it or not, accept it or not, a small number of certificates held in museums and societies WILL be stolen and they WILL end up in collections. Practically all repositories have sustained losses and losses not likely to stop. The Vatican Library has sustained numerous losses and if thefts can happen there, they can happen at historical societies with greatly inferior safeguards.

Even if losses stopped today, I suggest museums and societies will be sources of certificates as time goes on. Financial documents like stocks and bonds are rarely "centerpiece" holdings to those kinds of institutions. museums and societies receive new and more relevant contributions continually. Without infinite cash donations, every society and every museum will reach its limits. Many small societies already have huge problems with storage, display, and security. Many are hamstrung with well-intentioned policies created when such problems were unimaginable. Yes, it is true that organizations are not necessarily planning to de-accession tomorrow. Make no mistake, however, they WILL be forced to think about it sooner or later. It is my strong opinion that deaccessioning is inevitable and an unpredictable number of stocks and bonds will ultimately find their ways back to collectors.

STOCKS and BONDS

A stock certificate represents part ownership OF a company. A bond represents a loan made TO a company. I explain those differences more fully elsewhere in this website. Collectively, stocks and bonds are known as "securities" and that is specifically what the project catalogs.

Additionally, there are other kinds of documents that were designed to be stand-ins for securities. For instance, temporary stocks and temporary bonds served as securities prior to the printing and issuance of more formal certificates.

There were also subscription receipts which were given when investors advanced some amount of money against the purchase of stocks or bonds. They were de facto securities in that they could be sold to other investors willing to further fund purchases.

Certificates of deposit were receipts for stock or bonds deposited with some sort of financial institution or trust company, usually when railroad companies were going through reorganization or bankruptcy. They too served as de facto securities during periods when companies were trying to right themselves. If companies fell into bankruptcy, then they served exactly like stocks or bonds when assets were being divided among creditors and owners.

Several other less common documents played (or had the potential to play) similar roles and are therefore cataloged in this project. Conversely, there are numbers of documents commonly encountered by collectors that never had any security role whatsoever. Those documents are NOT cataloged. Non-cataloged documents commonly include bank notes, promissory notes, proxy forms, passes, tickets, checks, warrants and invoices. While coupons were attached to bonds, they had a single purpose: the demand for the collection of interest. Coupons were representations of debt. Like any other unpaid debt, coupons could be accumulated and used to foreclose on companies. However, they were NOT securities I do NOT catalog them.

There are also a few curious documents that look like obsolete bank notes and functioned that way in local commerce within railroad service areas. They played a role similar to coal company scrip. Some even carry text that promised to pay interest similar to short-term bonds. Unlike bonds, however, they lacked contractual guarantees for repayment. Therefore, they were simply promissory notes; they were not securities. They are NOT cataloged in this project.

COMPANIES

A forgiving definition of a company would be "an organization that makes money by selling goods or services." While that definition is true, this project defines a "company" more formally as "a legal entity officially authorized to conduct business."

The authority to officially operate as a company usually held by second-level governmental bodies such as states, territories, and provinces, In a few rare cases, corporate authorizations were granted by national governments. A few instances have been reported where third-level bodies such as counties authorized incorporation of railroads, but one needs to wonder how far such rights would have extended.

Over two-thirds of all officially authorized rail-related entities use the word "Company" in their names. About 1% use the word "Corporation" and slightly more use some form of "Inc.," "Incorporated" or "Incorporation." "Compañia" and "Limitada" appear sparingly on Mexican certificates.

The word "Limited," "Company Limited," or "Limited Company" is generally a British term and was used fewer than 150 times in Canada and the United States. "LLC" or "Limited Liability Company" is a relatively recent business form used in the United States. Fewer than forty rail-related companies have been discovered that have used that term.

The remaining 30% of companies are somewhat mysterious. Some use the word "Railroad" or "Railway" without implying any particular business form. That does not mean they did not use "Company" in their articles of incorporation; chances are, they decided to leave it off certificates for some reason.

A large percentage of early locomotive and rolling stock builders did NOT incorporate. One must assume they were unconcerned about liability protection. As rail traffic (and presumably lawsuits) increased, most merged and incorporated. Since they were so important to railroading, names of those unincorporated manufacturers are recorded in this database, even though they will never be represented by collectible securities.

Equipment trust certificates (ETCs) began appearing within a few years of 1900. These were certificates issued by investment banks, savings institutions, and trust companies in order to buy equipment. Purchased equipment was then leased and eventually sold to railroad companies, very much like automotive leasing companies do today. Trusts are not officially incorporated companies, but nonetheless operate under the same general legal framework, and ETC are officially classified as securities. While the names of railroad companies appear in the titles of all ETCs, collectors should note that very few attached the words "Company" or "Corporation" to their names. That is because ETCs were not issued BY railroad companies but FOR railroad companies. Therefore, they are all included in this project. Because they are collateralized by well-secured hard assets, ETCs remain popular investment vehicles today.