Description:

Henry Wells
New York, NY, May 1, 1866
1866 Stock Certificate for American Express Co. Signed by Henry Wells as Pres. & William Fargo as Sec.
DS

1866 American Express Signed Capital Stock Certificate American Express Company. Single page. Signed by Henry Wells, "Henry Wells" as President, "Alex Holland" as Treasurer, and "Wm G. Fargo" as Secretary, 1p measuring 12" x 8.25", New York. Dated "First day of May, 1866". Certificate No. 1248. Issue of five shares of Capital Stock; each share was worth $500. Issued to "Peter Monteath of Albany". Fine condition with just a small area of faint toning in the upper left and tape sealing punches - still one of the finest examples we have offered. Assignment template on verso.

A handsome engraved stock certificate from the era of intense competition among the three rivaling financial and express transport institutions, and issued three years before the destined merger. The catalyst at the time was the discovery of gold in California in 1849, which prompted a huge spike in the demand for cross-country shipping. Wells and Fargo decided to take advantage of these great opportunities. Simultaneously, California regulated neither the banking nor the express industry, leaving both fields wide open and creating a period ripe for chaos. Anyone with a wagon and team of horses could open an express company; and all it took to open a bank was a safe and a room to keep it in. Speculation in the California banking system became so rampant that by 1855, it completely collapsed.

American Express started out in1850 as a freight and valuables delivery service for the rapidly expanding nation. The company started as an express mail business in Buffalo, New York. It was founded as a joint stock corporation by the merger of the express companies owned by Henry Wells (Wells & Company), William G. Fargo (Livingston, Fargo & Company), and John Warren Butterfield (Wells, Butterfield & Company, the successor of Butterfield, Wasson & Company). Wells and Fargo also started Wells Fargo & Coin 1852 when Butterfield and other directors objected to the proposal that American Express extend its operations to California. American Express was at first an unincorporated association of investors headed by Wells as president and Fargo as secretary. By the end of the American Civil War, its business had so flourished, with some 900 offices in 10 states, that it attracted competition in 1866 in the formation of Merchants Union Express Company. For two years the two companies engaged in cutthroat competition and, on the verge of financial exhaustion, finally merged on November 25, 1868, to form the American Merchants Union Express Company, with Fargo succeeding as president. The company was renamed American Express Company in 1873. An attractive, early important stock certificate issued as No.1248 for 5 shares. By 1903, the American Express company had assets of some $28 million.

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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  • Dimensions: 12" x 8.25"
  • Medium: DS

Accepted Forms of Payment:

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Shipping

Unless otherwise indicated, we do our own in-house world-wide shipping!

Applicable shipping and handling charges will be added to the invoice. We offer several shipping options, and remain one of the few auction houses that proudly provides professional in-house shipping as an option to our clients. All items will ship with a signature required option, and full insurance. Most items are sent via Federal Express, with P. O. Box addresses being sent through USPS. We insure through Berkley Asset Protection with rates of $.70 per $100 of value, among the lowest insurance rates in the industry. Our shipping department cameras document every package, both outgoing and incoming, for maximum security. In addition, we compare our shipping and handling rates against those of other auction houses, to ensure that our charges are among the lowest in the trade.

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August 27, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
Wilton, CT, US

University Archives

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000