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Sale 81
The Pre-Long Beach Sale
| Lot |
Photo |
Description |
Realized |
Lot 1223 |
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ND (ca. 1830's) East Bridgewater Bank duel-denomination uncut sheet. This Massachusetts bank note has a $1.50 note on the upper half and a $1.25 note on the lower half. A very interesting sheet with beautiful details and nice paper quality. Rarely seen.
Estimated Value $75 - 100.
View details and enlarged photo
| Realized
$212 |
Lot 1224 |
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1871 State of South Carolina 100 Pound Sterling 6% Bond. Uncut Sheet with all the coupons canceled and intact. Together with: The Panama Canal Company 6% Obligation Bond issued in 1887 by the Frenchman Count Ferinand de Lesseps, the celebrated architect of the Suez Canal, complete sheet with the coupons intact, Very Fine.
Historical Note: Ten years after the completion of the Suez Canal in August 1879, de Lesseps started plans for the Panama Canal Company by raising funds from small investors and speculators resulting the "COMPAGNIE UNIVERSELLE DU CANAL INTEROCEANIQUE DE PANAMA in 1881. Its president, Ferdinand de Lesseps declared that the work would be completed within 6 years. The canal route was to run along the railway line from Colon on the Atlantic Ocean to Panama on the Pacific Ocean, through the river valley, without locks, on level with the two oceans. Difficulties soon began, one being the fact that the Panama Railroad, an American comany, held the transportation monopoly for the Panama isthmus. The Panama Canal Compnay was forced into purchasing the railway at a highly inflated price and by 1883 a second loan issue of bonds was floated at 3%. By Sepember 1884, a third loan had to be issued, this time at 4%. In 1885, at the company shareholders meeting, the company conceded difficulties that the total expenditure would probably reach to 1.2 billion gold Francs instead of the originally planned 600 million. By this time however, only one sixth of the excavation work had been completed and the shareholders became quite nervous. Nonetheless, through an improvement in the conditions of issue, 6% interest now being offered for new bond series such as this 1887 obligation, additional money was able to be raised. However, in yet another major setback, it became obvious to de Lesseps that he had to abandon his plans for a level canal and hired the famous architect of the Eiffel Tower, the engineer Gustave Eiffel, to figure out the construction of a sluice type canal.
Now, much more money needed to be raised. In March 1888, a number of French politicians passed a law allowing the Panama Canal Company to run a lucrative lottery loan supported by the government with guaranteed funds. However, the handwritting was on the wall. In order to escape imminent insolvency, large sums of bribes were distributed to the press along with bank employees and influential politicians to help promote these lottery bonds. Despite all of this, the bonds all failed and in January 1889 the collapse of the Panama Canal Company became reality and Ferdinand de Lesseps resigned from the board. Lot of 2 notes.
Estimated Value $300 - 400.
View details
| Unsold |
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