Beautifully engraved unissued Certificate from The American Submarine Company printed in the 1860's. This historic document was printed by the Ferd. Mayor and Sons Company of New York and has an ornate border around it with a vignettes of an old sailing ship and two women flanking a coat of arms with an eagle, train and scale. These is also a space for the revenue stamps that were used during and after the Civil War. This historic certificate is over 130 years old. In 1863, a group of Northern speculators formed the American Submarine Company to take advantage of a vote in the U.S. Congress to approve the use of privateers. However, when President Abraham Lincoln declined to accept the authority, construction of this consortium's submarine, the Intelligent Whale, languished. The boat was not completed until 1866, long after the war ended. The company tried to sell the concept to the government, and the U.S. Navy finally held formal acceptance trials in 1872. The Intelligent Whale failed and the project was dropped and the shareholders' were under water with their investment...

The Intelligent Whale is now an exhibit at the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey, in Sea Girt, N.J.