Beautifully engraved Specimen certificate from Little Switzerland, Inc.. This historic document was printed by Columbia Financial Printing and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of company's logo. This item has printed signatures by the Company's President, Robert Baumgardner and Secretary. 
Certificate Vignette The company operates 20 mostly duty-free stores that sell jewelry, watches, crystal, and other luxury items priced from $20 to more than $10,000. Its stores, located on five Caribbean islands and in Florida and Alaska, appeal to tourists (mostly from the US) looking to avoid the import taxes they would pay at home -- especially passengers on the cruise ship lines that ply the waters in those areas. Some brand-name products can be bought only at Little Switzerland shops; the stores also carry products from Tiffany & Co., which has been buying shares in the company. Tiffany now owns 98% of Little Switzerland. LITTLE SWITZERLAND: One-For-Five Reverse Stock Split Proposed From its headquarters in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Little Switzerland, Inc. announces the company's Board of Directors has approved a one-for-five reverse stock split of its common stock. The company stated that this stock split is being undertaken in an effort to allow it to remain eligible for listing on Nasdaq. Nasdaq previously had informed Little Switzerland that it would not remain eligible for trading on Nasdaq unless it could show compliance with the continued listing requirements, including the minimum $1.00 per share bid requirement. As a result, the company has requested that Nasdaq permit a transfer to Nasdaq's SmallCap Market System. The Board of Directors will submit this reverse stock split proposal to stockholders for approval at the company's annual meeting of stockholders scheduled for December 21, 1999, with a record date of November 26, 1999. At the annual meeting, Class II Directors will be elected with a term expiring at the 2002 annual meeting. Little Switzerland, Inc. is a leading specialty retailer of brand name watches, jewelry, crystal, china, fragrances and accessories, operating 20 stores on six Caribbean islands, and two stores in Alaska cruise ship destinations. The company's primary market consists of vacationing tourists attracted by free-port pricing, duty-free allowances and a wide variety of high quality merchandise. LITTLE SWITZERLAND: Receives Tax Benefits/Sells Antigua Store Little Switzerland, Inc. has been notified by the Industrial Development Commission of the United States Virgin Islands ("IDC") that it has renewed certain tax benefits for its wholly-owned subsidiary, L.S. Wholesale, Inc., which had expired at the end of August 1998. The IDC further informed the company that the benefits will be applied retroactively to the end of August 1998 and are for a five year period. Thus, as a result of the renewal, L.S. Wholesale will enjoy the benefit of a 75% exemption from taxes on income received from activities conducted outside of the United States Virgin Islands, which results in an effective tax rate of approximately 9.3%. In addition, L.S. Wholesale will enjoy a 75% exemption from gross receipts tax. The company also has closed the sale of all of the assets and goodwill of its store located in Antigua for an aggregate purchase price of $2.0 million, of which the company has received a $1.5 million payment. The balance of the purchase price is to be paid in two installments in the spring of 2000. The company used the $1.5 million in proceeds to pay down its debt to its existing lenders under its credit facilities. Robert Baumgardner, president and chief executive officer of Little Switzerland, stated that, "The sale of the Antigua store is the company's first strategic step in reducing its current debt. Management continues to work towards obtaining alternative financing to address the overall liquidity and capital concerns of the company." Mr. Baumgardner concluded, "Management and the Board of Directors of Little Switzerland are continuing to review all of the company's strategic options which we believe are necessary to return the company to profitability." LITTLE SWITZERLAND: Transferred To NASDAQ SmallCap Market Little Switzerland, Inc. has been notified by The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. that its common stock was to be transferred to The Nasdaq SmallCap Market(SM) effective at the opening of business on Friday, November 12, 1999. The company's new trading symbol will be "LSVIC." The company's president and chief executive officer, Robert Baumgardner, stated "We are pleased with NASDAQ's decision to permit the company's stock to be transferred to SmallCap. We believe that continued listing on NASDAQ is important to maintain liquidity for the company's stockholders. " The company's continued listing on SmallCap is subject to certain conditions, including (i) obtaining asset-based financing to pay down its existing debt and for working capital purposes and (ii) effecting a reverse stock split which is subject to approval by the company's stockholders at its annual meeting which is currently scheduled for December 21, 1999. Although the company indicates it will work diligently towards meeting these conditions, there is no assurance that it will be able to do so and that any actions proposed to be taken by the company to maintain its SmallCap listing will be effective.
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 and realized nice appreciation in value over the past several years.
Certificate Vignette
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 and realized nice appreciation in value over the past several years.
