Radio Corporation of America - RCA - Nipper the Dog in Vignette ($10000 Convertible Bond) - 1967

Beautifully engraved specimen certificate from Radio Corporation of America printed in 1967. This historic document was printed by the Security-Columbian Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of an allegorical woman holding a globe, Nipper the Dog looking into an old phonograph horn, a ship, skyscrpaer, space shuttle and the company logo. This item has the printed signatures of the Company’s President ( Robert W. Sarnoff).


Certificate Vignette

The federal government's takeover of the wireless industry during the Wolrd War I accomplished two things: it focused efforts and funds on further technological improvements and it sorted out the tangle of patent infringements that had crippled industry development. Wartime experience convinced Assistant Navy Secretary Franklin D. Roosevelt that radio patents should be kept under American control. General Electric, which was planning a major sale of broadcasting equipment to the British Marconi company, was asked instead to take the lead in organizing an American radio concern. GE agreed, and the Radio Corporation of America was formed in October 1919. RCA took over the assets of American Marconi and responsibility for marketing the radio equipment produced by GE and Westinghouse. Conceived as a "marriage of convenience" between private corporations and the government for the development of wireless communication, RCA soon grew in a different direction.

Just six years later, RCA's revenues from "wireless" came to $4 million. Revenue from the sale of consumer Radiolas and related equipment had grown to $46 million and the gap was widening. Westinghouse, one of RCA's manufacturers, received the first commercial broadcasting license in 1920. A few days later, station KDKA went on the air with the returns of the Harding-Cox presidential election. RCA was on the air with the world heavyweight boxing championship by the next summer, a marketing brainstorm of RCA General Manager David Sarnoff.

Robert W. Sarnoff

Born: 7/2/1918 - Died: 2/22/1997 Birthplace: New York City

Son of David Sarnoff, a pioneer in radio and television who had organized NBC in 1926, Robert W. Sarnoff was groomed to succeed his father at the helm of both RCA (Radio Corporation of America) and NBC. In 1956 he became president of NBC and in 1965, president of RCA. Under his leadership TV became racially integrated when he supported Nat King Cole's variety show and Bill Cosby's role in I Spy. The first presidential debate was televised during Sarnoff's tenure. He became chairman of RCA in 1970 and diversified the company; he left the company in 1975.

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About Specimens

Specimen 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.