(today Gwent) was a major part of the

Amsterdam and Antwerp. One of the earliest
option certificates we've ever seen and the
only one we know of for shares in the Bank
of England.
28 August 1727 VF EUR 850
810 ROYAL PANOPTICON OF SCIENCE
AND ART
GREAT BRITAIN : Share. black, purple seal.
No 3997. One of the most decorative of English
shares, with very ornate border and delicate
vignettes of lady artists. The Royal Panopticon
opened in 1854 and closed in 1857, on the site
now occupied by the Odeon cinema, Leicester
Square, London. The life of the Panopticon
began in 1850, when Edward Clarke, an
Irishman with experience of making
exhibitions, formed this company, with a capital
of £80.000. Building began in 1851; the home
of the Panopticon was a vast circular building in
exotic, Moorish style, 97m high. There were
three exhibition halls for showing works of art,
and industrial products were on show. The
centre was taken up with an enormous and
splendid organ, a great fountain, and other
attractions for visitors. It opened in 1854 and
was a great success. However, it was badly
managed and lacked a real purpose. It closed in
1857, and the building, which had cost £80.000
to build, was sold by auction for £9.000 to a
theatre company. Under the new owners it was
called the Alhambra Palace, and circuses were
held there.
21 February 1851 VF EUR 100
811 ROYAL TERRACE PIER
GREAT BRITAIN : KENT. GRAVESEND.
Bond of £100. black. No 150. In 1845 the town
of Gravesend, on the south side of the estuary of
the river Thames, needed a new pier to handle
expanding traffic. This company obtained an
Act of Parliament to build the pier - the Royal
Terrace Pier. We see the result in the superb
engraving on this share. The pier is shown in
the most careful detail, as are the elegant
Victorian ladies and gentlemen boarding the
ships to take them to London or to the
Continent. Gravesend has been a port for 1000
years. From the early 17th century it was the
main port of arrival & departure for the East
India Company. Gravesend was the point where
eminent foreign visitors to England were
received. One pier was built in 1832, but
shipping was so prosperous at the time that this
second pier was needed.
22 July 1845 EF EUR 500
812 SCOTTISH WOOD HASKINIZING CO.
GREAT BRITAIN : GLASGOW. 6% Cum.
Preference Shares of £1. black. No 54. Formed
Edinburgh 1903 to exploit the rights to a
process of treatment and preservation of wood.
The owner of the patent was named Mr Haskin,
so that is the origin of the name.
17 November 1903 EF EUR 30
813 SCOTT SNELL SCENIC AEROPLANES
GREAT BRITAIN : LONDON. Shares of £1.
black. No 163. We have seen a picture of the
'flying machine', intended to be a feature of the
next White City Exhibition in London. A
strange craft indeed, which was surely never
built. Only piece we know of.
11 May 1909 VF EUR 100
814 SOUTHPORT PIER CO., LTD
GREAT BRITAIN : 6% Debenture of £100.
black. # 200. No 81. Southport is a town just
north of Liverpool, and very popular as a
seaside resort to the city. The pier was on of the
earliest and longest of its type. It had an electric
tramway system, which in 1950 became a diesel
line, linked to the line running along the
seafront. The company was liquidated 1937
after acquisition by the town council. Small
issue.
19 July 1920 EF EUR 40
815 STELLA SHIPPING CO. LTD
GREAT BRITAIN : Shares of £1. blue. No
1058. The company was formed in 1915, and
worked from the ports of South Wales,
including Pembroke Dock. Liquidated 1921.
16 April 1918 VF EUR 30
816 SWIFT CYCLE CO. LTD
GREAT BRITAIN : 5% First Mortgage
Debenture £100. black. No 373. Swift was first
formed in 1896, but reconstructed under the
same name in 1901. Built bicycles in its
Coventry factory. In 1918 Swift changed its
name to Swift of Coventry Ltd. Liquidated in
the early 1930s. Large format. The company
seal shows the company logo of a bicycle
wheel. Issued to the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre
Co.Ltd.
16 May 1902 VF EUR 90
817 ULVERSTON GASLIGHT AND COKE CO
GREAT BRITAIN : Certificate of 1/4 Share £7
10s. black on blue paper. No 58. Ulverston is in
the north of England, north of Blackpool.
Doubtless used Lancashire coal. Small format.
1 September 1858 VF EUR 40
818 VICKERS & CO., LTD
GREAT BRITAIN : Shares of £1. black. No 8.
One of the great names in British war
production. Formed in 1867, and soon became
a major manufacturer of guns, ammunition,
armour plate, and steel, mostly for military
purposes. Later produced aircraft, tanks and
warships, also merchant shipping from its yards
on the Tyne, northeast England. Still today it
builds tanks for the British and foreign armies,
and nuclear submarines for the Royal Navy. Its
aviation division started in 1911. its various
early designs were unsuccessful, but it was a
major producer of fighters of various types. In
1917 the Vimy bomber appeared, and remained
the standard RAF bomber through the 1920s.
Alcock & Brown made the first non-stop
crossing of the Atlantic in one in 1919. During
World War II it designed and built the Spitfire
and the Wellington bomber, and was a big
builder of the Lancaster bomber. After the war
it built for the RAF (Valiant bombers) and
Royal Navy (Scimitar carrier-borne fighters),
and entered civil aviation successfully with the
Viscount airliner. In 1960 it became part of the
British Aircraft Corporation. All Vickers pieces
are rare and of the few we've seen so far, this is
by far the oldest one.
1 November 1895 VF EUR 200
819 WALLSEND SLIPWAY & ENGINEERING
CO. LTD
GREAT BRITAIN : New Preference Shares of
£1. red. No 127. Wallsend, at the mouth of the
Tyne, has always been a shipbuilding town. The
name Wallsend comes from its position at the
east end of the wall built by the Roman emperor
Hadrian to keep out the Scots. The company
was formed in 1871 to repair and maintain
ships. At its peak in the early 1900's, they were
probably the world's largest ship repairer. The
company was also an early manufacturer of
Charles Parsons turbine engines, which were
installed in the RMS "Mauretania", a sister ship
of the ill fated Lusitania, destined for north
Atlantic service. The Mauretania was owned by
the Cunard Steam Ship Co. of Liverpool. Both
ships were designed to win back the so-called
"Blue Riband", for the fastest crossing of the
Atlantic, from the "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse".
The Mauretania held the Blue Riband from
1909 to 1929. The seal shows a steam/sail ship
on the slipway. First time we this preference
shares certificate.
28 July 1902 VF EUR 30
820 WESTLAND AIRCRAFT LTD
GREAT BRITAIN : LONDON. Ordinary
Shares of 5 Shillings. blue. No 58210. Westland
was an aircraft manufacturer, based at Yeovil,
in southwest England. It was generally not very
successful, although its wartime Lysander
aircraft was very valuable as a liaison aircraft.
After the War the company concentrated on
helicopters, and merged with other British
companies to become Westland Helicopters in
1961. In 2000 it merged with Agusta of Italy to
become Agusta Westland.
28 June 1963 VF EUR 30
821 WESTMINSTER BANK LTD
GREAT BRITAIN : LONDON. Shares of £1.
green. No 135155. Formed 1836 as the London
& County Bank, but took this name in 1923.
Under this name was for many years one of the
largest and most important banks in England.