AN EARLY VINEYARD STOCK 1811, Philadelphia. A partly printed stock for an early vineyard: “This Certifies that Benjamin Warner holds one Share in the Company for promoting the Cultivation of Vines in Pennsylvania, for which he has paid Twenty Dollars in full; transferable in Presence of the Treasurer.” It is signed by the president and treasurer. There is a decorative border and the left edge is scalloped. Light age toning but in very fine condition with an impressed company seal showing a grape vine.

Child seated on books, flame on head

Neptune in chariot, parchment

Factory scene

1822, Massachusetts. Stock certificate for 24 shares in A Republican Institution in the Town of Boston. Black. Vignette of an eagle holding a ribbon with the motto "E Pluribus Unum" in its beak, and arrows and an olive branch in its claws. Affixed at left is the large corporate seal which indicates that the Institution was incorporated in 1819. Attached to and extending below the paper seal is a blue ribbon. Signed by HENRY DEARBORN as president. Dearborn (1751-1829); Revolutionary War general; Congressman; U.S. Secretary of War. Dearborn served with distinction during the Revolutionary War, retiring from the service in 1783 as a member of Washington's staff. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1793-1797), and as Jefferson's Secretary of War (1801-1809). At the outbreak of the War of 1812, Madison made Dearborn the senior major-general in the U.S. Army, but his performance was a great disappointment, and has been attributed to Dearborn's age and long disuse of his military skills. Dearborn, Michigan is named in his honor. The Republican Institution was founded in 1819 "as a body politic and corporate forever, for the purpose of procuring a building, and keeping it in repair, with suitable apartments for a reading room, library, and the meeting of the said society...in the town of Boston, Massachusetts." Its intent was to provide a forum for political education and discussion of the best means of promoting national welfare. An interesting and very rare stock certificate related to a political organization. Extremely fine.