While scripophily - collecting bonds, stocks and shares certificates - is unlikely to make your fortune, individual certificates can be worth up to £250 or, just maybe, a lot more.
According to Mr Ian Whyte, of Whyte's auctioneers in Dublin, some collectors go for the beauty of the certificates. Others collect them from certain industries, such as drinks companies, to put on their walls as a decoration.
Others again "collect them and go through them to see if any of them can be cashed. And it has happened", he says. "I believe a couple of years ago there was a Russian bond which people thought was worthless. In actual fact, it was worth a few bob. So sometimes going through collections, if you're willing to spend the time to track down some of the companies, you can find that there actually is a cash value to the certificate.
"The biggest money we've ever had has been about £250 for a single one. That was for a share in a Cork company, circa 1810. It was a property company and had an attractive vignette - I think it had a coat of arms and a picture of Cork on it. We thought it would fetch about £100 and it fetched about £250. u100 in 1810 would have been a fair bit of money, so there wouldn't have been too many issues." The scripophily section in a Whyte's auction on September 23rd next includes a certificate for one share in the Suir Navigation Company, issued in 1836 at Carrick-on-Suir, estimated at between £120 to £150.
Fenian bonds are quite scarce and collectable. "This is where the Fenians in the 1860s in America were trying to raise money to fund the revolution. They issued bonds that said "The Irish Republic" and they promised to repay when they established the Irish Republic."
Three Fenian bonds in the forthcoming auction are estimated at £150£200 each. They are attractive, with a picture of Wolfe Tone and a woman with a harp, he says.
Eamonn DeValera issued bonds in 1921 in denominations of $10, $20, $50 and $100. These are also collectable because they're historically interesting and are worth from £30 to £100 each, he says.
Shares certificates are collected from as early as the late 18th century. "Certainly from the latter half of the 19th century onwards, a lot of them . . . were quite ornately engraved so they couldn't be forged - or that it would make them difficult to forge them," he says.
When shares are cashed in, they're marked cancelled or punched with perforations. But, even still, they can remain quite attractive. Unredeemed certificates are also collected, from companies that went bust.
"There were a lot of speculative companies over that 200 years that failed, but produced fairly attractive certificates - not unlike some present day dot.com companies," he says.
Whyte's next auction, which includes coins, tokens, banknotes and scripophily, takes place at Whyte's in Marlborough Street, Dublin, on September 23rd, at 2 p.m. For further details, telephone 01-8746161.
A fine art appreciation course comprising 10 evening lectures run by the Irish Auctioneers & Valuers Institute starts on Tuesday September 26th. Lectures continue every second Tuesday until December 5th and the fee is £160. For details, telephone the IAVI 01-6611794.
The Irish Antique Dealers Fair takes place at the RDS, Dublin, from Thursday September 28th to Saturday, September 30th, from noon to 9 p.m. and on Sunday, October 1st, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. jmarms@irish-times.ie
