Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Titanic victim Benjamin Guggenheim scripophily for sale in AIA's auction

Archives International Auctions sets its next auction date to Monday, 30th October 2017. Nearly four hundred US, Chinese & worldwide banknotes, ephemera, stocks and bonds are ready for a new owner. Among other beautiful certificates, the scripophily section also includes a bond from the International Steam Pump Company.

Lot 259 : International Steam Pump Company 
First Lien Twenty Year 5% Sinking Fund Gold Bond, specimen 1909 
Click image to enlarge, check the vignette and notice 
the size of the steam engine powered pump in comparison to the person. 

Benjamin Guggenheim, born in Philadelphia, Oct. 26, 1865, was the fifth of seven sons of Meyer Guggenheim. By the time he was 20 years old, his father sent him to Leadvilie, Colorado, to manage the Guggenheim's mining interests. In 1903 Benjamin Guggenheim built a plant at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the manufacture of mining machinery. Three years later the business was merged with the International Steam Pump Company. He became the latter's Chairman of the Executive Committee, until Jan 1909, when he was elected President.
Following a trip to Europe in 1912, Benjamin Guggenheim boarded the RMS Titanic and was accompanied by his entourage and his mistress, the French singer Léontine Aubart. After the Titanic's collision with an iceberg, he and his valet, Victor Giglio, helped the rescue of women and children. Subsequently they changed clothes and headed for the ship's Grand Staircase foyer. Guggenheim remarked, "We've dressed up in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen." Both men went down with the ship, Léontine Aubart survived.




Auction details

  • Location : Fort Lee, New Jersey
  • Dates : 30 October 2017
  • Further info : see AIA , online catalogue here and PDF version there 



F.L.

No comments:

Post a Comment