Beautifully engraved specimen certificate from Standard Gas and Electric Company dated 1927. This historic document was printed by Columbian Bank Note Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of an allegorical woman next to electric power lines and power plants. This item is over 79 years old. 
Certificate Vignette STANDARD GAS & ELECTRIC COMPANY (1923) History: Incorporated under Delaware laws, April 28, 1910, as a holding company for acquiring, selling or operating public utility properties. The company owns stocks, bonds and other securities of 14 public service corporations, serving 578 communities with a total estimated population of 2,250,000. The territory covered is located in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Alabama and Kentucky. Subsidiaries: The companies controlled by the Standard Gas & Electric Company, Chicago, all of which are operated by and under the general management of its subsidiary, the Byllesby Engineering & Management Corporation, hicago, are the following: Byllesby Eng. & Management Corporation Fort Smith (Ark.) Light & Traction Company Louisville (Ky.) Gas & Electric Company Mobile (Ala.) Electric Company Mountain States Power Company Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company Puget Sound Gas Company, Everett, Wash. San Diego (Cal.) Consolidated Gas & Electric Company Shafer Oil & Refining Company Southern Colorado Power Co Southwestern General Gas Company Western States Gas & Electric Company Affiliated Company: The Standard Gas & Electric Company also holds a minority stock interest in the Northern States Power Company. SOUTHWESTERN GENERAL GAS CO.: Incorporated under Arkansas laws, September 7, 1911, and succeeded to the property and business of the Little Rock & Ft. Smith Gas & Oil Co., the Arkansas & Territorial Oil & Gas Co., the General Pipe Line Co., and the Mansfield Gas Co. The company owns and operates natural gas wells in the vicinity of Ft. Smith, Ark., and supplies gas to the Ft. Smith Light & Traction Co. Number of gas consumers, 133; miles of main, 25. Capital Stock: Authorized, $2,000,000; preferred and $2,000,000 common; outstanding, $25,000 preferred and $1,001,000 common; par $100. Entire preferred and common stock, excepting directors' qualifying shares, owned by Standard Gas & Electric Co. Management: OFFICERS: (Standard Gas & Electric Co) : H. M. Byllesby, Pres.; A. S. Huey, G. H. Harries, B. W. Lynch, J. J. O'Brien, C. C. Levis, F. C. Gordon, Vice-Pres.; R. J. Graf. Sec. and Treas.; M. A. Morrison, Herbert List, P. A. Lehmkuhl, W. G. Pohl, J. J. Madden, L. M. Sage, Asst. Sec. and Asst. Treas. DIRECTORS: H. M. Byllesby, A. S. Huey, J. J. O'Brien, R. J. Graf, M. A. Morrison, J. H. Briggs, R. G. Hunt, H. C. Cummins, D. T. Flynn, B. W. Lynch, Donald McDonald, A. S. Cummins, J. H. Roemer, F. W. Stehr, C. C. Levis, 0. G. Corns, W. G. Pohl. ANNUAL MEETING: Third Wednesday in April at Wilmington, Del. EXECUTIVE OFFICE: 208 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Ill. Research by OldCompany.com.
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.
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 over the past several years.
