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Auction: 323 - The Numismatic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 1545

Cocos Island Treasure Company (California) 1854. San Francisco. One share. No.258. Buccaneer, left. Ceres with wheat, center. Overall dimensions 8" x 11." The central 4" x 8" certificate is surrounded by four handsome hand-colored images of sailing ships and pirate battles. Fully prepared, with the date, serial number, number of shares, and officer's signatures. The owner's name is not filled in. Uncancelled. Very Fine+. Throughout history the promise of finding buried pirate treasure has induced investors to participate in capitalizing treasure hunting companies. Cocos Island has been the focus of much of this treasure hunting activity. One estimate places the number of Cocos Islands treasure hunting expeditions at over three hundred, though no major find has ever been publicly reported. Companies resorted to the use of visually appealing stock certificates to convince investors to participate, and the rarest and most spectacular of these certificates is surely the Cocos Island Treasure Company. This certificate first appeared in an R. M. Smythe Auction in the early 1980s. According to the consignor, it was owned by the late Paul Richards, Scott Winslow, a prominent Maryland collector, and David Beach. It is now being offered publicly for the first time in almost thirty years.
From the John E. Herzog Collection.

Sold for
$2,500