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Auction: 324 - The Numismatic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 1285

Saint Paul & Duluth Railroad (Minnesota) 1887. 100 shares, Preferred Capital Stock. Issued, cancelled. No.7643. Train at station in circular frame flanked by steamships. Issued to Hetty H. R. Green, and signed by her on the back. Bold, perfect signature. Known as the "Witch of Wall Street", Hetty H. R. Green was an American businesswoman and financier, and perhaps the richest woman in America during the Gilded Age. She learned all about business from her father, Edward Green, who amassed a small fortune by investing in whaling ventures. Hetty accompanied Edward on his daily business rounds, and applied what she learned in order to build her own fortune, primarily through investments in real estate and bonds. Her autograph is rarely encountered, and the opportunity to acquire a share certificate signed by her is simply extraordinary (a small group of about a dozen Pullman share certificates issued to Westminster Company, her own personal corporation, surfaced over a decade ago, but these were snapped up immediately by avid collectors and haven't appeared in our auctions since then). The current example is from the Northern Pacific Railroad archives, where only four of these certificates were discovered. This is certainly one of the nicer examples. VF+.
The certificate is lightly pasted over the stub, and the cancellations affect only the officer's signatures. An extraordinary opportunity to obtain one of the most desirable autographs in financial history.

Sold for
$2,500