927 old stocks and bonds are offered at the 45th Scripophily auction of the HWPH Historisches Wertpapierhaus AG, which takes place on 29 April 2017 in Wuerzburg, Germany (auction starts at 11.00 am, viewing from 9 am onwards, catalogue at www.hwph.de).

Among the oldest offered items is a mortgage bond of the Schlesische Landschaft, issued in 1784. The "Privileged Mortgage Bond" for 20 Reichsthaler Courant was issued for the Upper and Lower Starrwitz estate in the Grottgauer Creiß (today's Poland). The minimum bid for this lot 489 is Euro 1,000.

This year the Wuerzburg auction is much influenced by fine arts: HWPH AG offers several rarities relating to theatre, music, film and leisure. One of the highlights is a superb designed share of the Stadttheater in St. Gallen, issued in 1885 (Lot 508, Euro 3,500). Only this copy is known for decades. Another absolute rarity is a Chaplin Studios share certificate (Lot 509, Euro 1,700), issued in 1930. Only 17 copies are known from this very important film share certificate. To finance the luxury cultural life, it was always a good idea to be located where the money rules: next to the stock exchange. The Actiengesellschaft Komische Oper in Vienna (Lot 507, Euro 3,500) built the Ringtheater in 1872. This theatre was located at Schottenring, opposite to the Vienna stock exchange. One of the shareholders was famous Johann Strauss II, well known as "The Walz King". Another project being financed by issuing securities was the Vienna Giant Wheel. The Vienna Gigantic Wheel Limited (Lot 510, Euro 1,800) issued 5 % Debentures, denominated in British Pounds. Only two certificates are known of the £ 250 debenture.

Many offered items are from the booming regions of Asia and Russia. Highlight of the auction is a share certificate of the Shanghai Securities and Commodities Exchange Company Limited (Lot 522, Euro 8,000), issued in 1925. The market for securities trading in Shanghai began in the 1860s. The first price list was published in June 1866. Foreign businessmen founded the Shanghai Sharebrokers Association during the boom in mining shares in 1891. This operated China's first stock exchange. It was renamed in Shanghai Stock Exchange in 1904. In 1920 and 1921, the Shanghai Securities & Commodities Exchange and the Shanghai Chinese Merchant Exchange started operation respectively. All three Exchanges merged in 1929 and operated as Shanghai Stock Exchange. Shanghai emerged as the financial centre of the Far East by the 1930s. Business stopped, when Japanese troops occupied the Shanghai International Settlement on 8 December 1941. After resuming operations in 1946, it had to close again in 1949, after the Communist revolution took place. The Shanghai Stock Exchange was re-established on 26 November 1990 and operation started on 19 December 1990.

About historic shares and bonds:

Historic shares and bonds are financial documents which no longer have any traditional economic value on any stock market. They are collectable items reflecting our financial history. For top items, such as for instance certificates personally signed by John D. Rockefeller, Thomas A. Edison, Charlie Chaplin, Wolfgang von Goethe or Richard Wager, 5-digit prices are being paid.

Press Contact:

HWPH AG
Matthias Schmitt
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85604 Zorneding / Germany
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E-Mail: auktion@hwph.de
Internet: www.hwph.de