Jay Gould Signed Railroad Stock Certificate, Less than
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Jay Gould Signed Railroad Stock Certificate, Less than 1 Month before Boss Tweed's 1st Corruption Trial!
A Nyack and Northern Railroad stock certificate signed by Jay Gould (1836-1892), the Gilded Age railroad tycoon and robber baron, as "Jay Gould" at lower right recto. Dated December 18, 1872. Co-signed by other company officers and witnesses. Bearing the usual cancellation marks, embossed seals, and stamp duty. Rights were transferred via a handwritten section verso. Expected paper folds, light toning, and a few chipped edges. Else near fine. 9.375" x 8.875".
Stock certificate No. 38 granted 62 $100 shares of Nyack and Northern Railroad Company stock to Jay Gould. ($6,200 in 1872 is the equivalent of over $130,000 in 2020 currency.) The Nyack and Northern Railroad Company had been incorporated in November 1868. Before its foreclosure in 1892 and its reincarnation as the Nyack and Southern Railroad Company after 1899, the Nyack and Northern had constructed a railroad between Sparkill and Nyack, New York in Rockland County, near the New York/New Jersey border, running parallel the Hudson River.
Gould was a crony of Tammany Hall kingpin William M. "Boss" Tweed. Gould, with the long, dark beard of one of the era's melodramatic villains, was immortalized in Thomas Nast's caricatures of crime syndicate ring leaders and their associates. Despite these shady business dealings and similar controversies, Gould managed to keep a hand in railroad company investment well into the late 1880s. His inflation adjusted net worth was $71 billion.
This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.
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