Anna Maria Island Erosion Prevention District Bond - Florida 1972

Beautifully engraved RARE Specimen $1000 District Bond Certificate from the Anna Maria Island Erosion Prevention printed in 1952. This historic document was printed by Columbian Bank Note Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of an eagle. This item has 40 interest coupons attached on top and is over 55 years old. This is the first time we have had this for sale and we only have one.










Certificate Vignette

In 1892 George Emerson Bean became the first permanent resident on the Island and homesteaded much of what is now the City of Anna Maria. In the early 1900s, Bean began to develop the Island with the Anna Maria Beach Company, which laid out streets, built sidewalks and houses and installed a water system.

During this time, John Roser built the first house of worship, Roser Memorial Community Church, in memory of his mother. Roser was the creator of the Fig Newton, which he eventually sold to Nabisco Brands. Roser Memorial Community Church still stands and attends to the spiritual needs of Islanders.

Typical of the early buildings is the present Island Playhouse, which was built on the mainland. It was transported to the Island by barge and has served the community during its long life as church, school, social and city hall.

The Magnolia Avenue School was built in the early 1900s and has since been replaced with the Anna Maria Island Elementary School, which is located in the City of Holmes Beach. The present school draws students from north Longboat Key as well as Anna Maria Island; it has a student body Just under of 400 house in a new Multi-million dollar campus facility

For years the only way to the Island was by boat. It was not until 1921 that Anna Maria was physically connected to the mainland by a wooden bridge that extended westward from the fishing village of Cortez to the Island. The Bradenton Beach fishing pier is the western end of that original bridge.

Throughout the developmental period of the Island, local city governments have worked diligently to preserve the heritage of This "Island In The Sun" – Anna Maria Island.

FUN FACTS

HOLLYWOOD EAST? It’s the setting for the perfect movie – spectacular sunset, tropical breezes, stars and, oh yes, romance. In 1948, MGM brought Esther Williams, Peter Lawford, Ricardo Montalban, Jimmy Durante, Cyd Charisse, and Xavier Cugat to Florida’s “Island in the Sun” to Anna film “On an Island With You”. In the plot “a beautiful movie star travels to Hawaii and finds romance in this South Seas musical” but we all know which island really gets credit for its portrayal of paradise!

Over the years, Anna Maria Island has provided the perfect backdrop for Hollywood photo opportunities but it wasn’t until 1998 that the island returned to the big screen as the stage for the film noir mystery “Palmetto” starring Woody Harrelson, Elisabeth Shue and Gina Gershon, "OUT OF TIME" starring Denzel Washington, and "The Perfect Storm" starring George Clooney.

Background from the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce.

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About Specimen Certificates

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 were 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 has grown in popularity over the past several years.