Beautiful engraved RARE specimen certificate from the
Algonquin Club dated in 1888. This historic document was printed by American Bank Note Company and has an
ornate border around it with a vignette of a native american. This item is over 119 years old. 20 coupons attached on right side. This is the only example of this certificate we have seen.
Certificate Vignette
On October 16, 1885, fifty prominent businessmen convened for the purpose of discussing the formation of a new social club. Just five months later, on March 9, 1886, by a special act of the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Algonquin Club of Boston was incorporated.
Land was subsequently purchased at 217 Commonwealth Avenue and the most important architectural firm of the day, McKim, Mead & White of New York (designers of the Boston Public Library and Museum of Fine Arts, as well as Penn Station in New York City) was chosen to design the new club. Two years later, on November 8, 1888, the magnificent Algonquin Club of Boston was formally opened amidst "fitting ceremonies"…thus inaugurating more than a century of Old World charm, exquisite dining and impeccable service for members and guests alike. Over the years, Presidents, heads of state, foreign dignitaries and preeminent local and national leaders have enjoyed visiting the Club.
History from Wikipedia and OldCompanyResearch.com.
About SpecimensSpecimen Certificates are actual certificates that have never been issued. They were usually kept by the printers in their permanent archives as their only example of a particular certificate. Sometimes you will see a hand stamp on the certificate that says "Do not remove from file".
Specimens were also used to show prospective clients different types of certificate designs that were available. Specimen certificates are usually much scarcer than issued certificates. In fact, many times they are the only way to get a certificate for a particular company because the issued certificates were redeemed and destroyed. In a few instances, Specimen certificates we made for a company but were never used because a different design was chosen by the company.
These certificates are normally stamped "Specimen" or they have small holes spelling the word specimen. Most of the time they don't have a serial number, or they have a serial number of 00000. This is an exciting sector of the hobby that grown in popularity over the past several years.