Most people collect antique stock certificates by type, or theme, to give a common thread to their collection and to add passion to the search for specific certificates (though most of us also “cheat” and collect others just because we like them). Collecting themes also provides a logical way to organize or display your favorite stock certificates.

The “Part I” article before this one discussed themes of Industry, Geography, Vignette (artwork), Family Relationship (name) and Time Period.  Here are some other popular themes:

1. Events, or some portion of one –
Examples:  Civil War, Confederate Institutions, Volunteer Bounty Bonds, Veterans Organizations

2. Firsts, or among the firsts –
Examples:  Experimental Aircraft (Custer Channel Wing), Steam Locomotives (Tom Thumb), seminal autos (Willys-Overland Jeep), first electrically wired cities (Cincinnati Edison), current companies over a century old (Wells Fargo)

3. Famous Names, issued to or signed by –
Examples:  Rockefeller, Disney, Remington, Pabst, Houdini, Rothschild, Chaplin, Buick, Morgan, Ames, Lorillard…

4. Extreme Numbers on the certificate –
Examples:  Bonds for $1,000,000 or more, stock certificates for more than 10,000 shares or less than 10 shares, company capital of less than $1 million, low registration number (three digits or less)

5. Unissued (the printed date usually has a blank in it, such as 187_) –
These are certificates that were never authorized, filled out and given to a share owner.  They have usually come from storage and archives of the companies, banks and printers that were involved with the issuance process.

Some people prefer unissued documents because they often are in better condition than “used” certificates.  Other collectors prefer issued ones because the names, writing and wear show they were held in people’s hands and used in commerce a century or more ago.

There are literally millions of permutations possible by crossing themes.  For example, if your family can be traced to Philadelphia, you might collect issued, canceled (the word is usually spelled with one L, but not always), green certificates that have one or two digit registration numbers with portrait vignettes from the 1800’s.

Or, maybe not.  If your family name is Miller, you could just buy Grandpa a “Millerstown Iron Company” stock certificate, have it framed and give it to him for Christmas.  Guaranteed, he won’t get duplicates of that gift.

So you can decide on a theme(s), or just browse and absorb and maybe a theme will develop as you learn more about what’s available and what strikes that special cord in you.  If nothing else, you will find fascinating insights into the people and things that made this country.

Many collectors of antique stock certificates collect by acquiring certificates with shared characteristics, or themes.  In prior articles we discussed themes of Industry, Geography, Vignette (picture), Family Relationship, Time Period, Event, Firsts, Famous Names, Unissued and Extreme Numbers.

Here are ten more popular collecting themes:

1. Celebration –
Examples:  World Fairs and participating companies, construction (Panama Canal, landmarks…), Disney (characters on war bonds, Magic Kingdom, Euro Disney…), sports (teams, player restaurants…), Transcontinental Railroad contributors

2. Personal Years –
Examples:  Birth year, when you met, marriage, child’s birth, military service, first car, graduation, family members’ important years (especially for gifts)

3. Befores –
Examples:  Territories before they were states, before modern papers and printing, financial instruments from before we went off the Gold Standard, pre-modern transportation (paddlewheels, steamships, stagecoaches…)

4. Signatures, hand signed –
This category includes any hand written names (owner, company officials, bankers, witnesses…).  It can be further segmented into well-known name signatures (John D Rockefeller), lesser-known (George Wingfield – miner and banker) or unknown (little historical information).

5. Cancelation Type –
Examples:  stamped “canceled” or “cancelled”, hand written cancel, check mark or lines, scribbles through the signatures, hole-punched, issued but not canceled, canceled but not issued, marked VOID

6. Punch Type –
Examples:  large circles (1/4 inch), small circles (often spelling out the word “canceled”), squares, odd shapes (horseshoe, cross, star…)

7. Color –
Examples: Certificates from the same company were often printed in different colors if they were used for a different amount of shares (example: printed for “100 Shares” or “Less Than 100 Shares”).  Common stock and preferred stock certificates usually were in different colors.  Certificates from some companies came in several colors.

8. Misspellings, or variant spellings –
Examples:  An Odd Fellows Hall Association certificate from the 1860’s spells “Fellows” both with and without an apostrophe on the same certificate.  Railroad was often spelled differently (one or two words, capitals or not).

9. Stubbed –
Some stock certificates still have a registration stub attached (either all of it or a remnant) to the left edge (similar to check register stubs for recording the payment details in a checkbook).  It may be filled in or may not.  Stubs on certificates can either be flat and showing as part of the complete document (as a framed wall display, for example) or it can be folded under to show just the actual certificate. 

Some stock and bond certificates have partial or full sheets of dividend coupons attached like a stub would be, but may be on the bottom or the right hand side.

10. Ornate –
Some people take the designation of stock certificates as artwork to heart and go for the very decorative ones. Examples: The 1969 Ringling Bros. – Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows specimen is very colorful and full of circus characters. The Boston and Albany Rail Road of 1892 has detailed train and harbor scene vignettes that spread the width of the certificate.

It sometimes can be challenging to find certain certificates to fill in a theme, especially if it is a very narrow or rare theme.  But the bigger challenge can be in choosing only one theme, because there are so many from which to choose.