The field of scripophily is a relatively modern addition to the growing group of collecting hobbies. It is a present fairly cheap, in my opinion, to form a worthwhile and ongoing collection of telephone paper ephemera, which would fall under the general banner of scripophily.

What is scripophily, what is it's connection to antique phones, and who are these telephone scripophilists? Well, put simply they are collectors of old defunct bond and share certificates and other related financial telephone papers. That may sound very dull and even boring; it is certainly neither. Each piece of paper, as you can see by looking at the illustrations, not only tells an economic history but also can be an extremely pretty document to look at. In fact many collectors have framed them. Unfortunately black and white illustrations do not do them justice as the colors involved are magnificent. 

The fact that they can be beautifully printed in various colors and are decorative and pleasing to the eye, is not the only, nor even the most important reason to collect telephone stocks and bonds. It is the story behind the companies and the men who signed the certificates, the pioneers of telephony. The early certificates were usually signed in ink by the officers of the companies. Hold one of these early certificates and telephone history jumps out at you. With a bit of research and an interest in telephone history, this is available to any collector.

Since the hobby of scripophily is fairly new, there are still many unknowns within the hobby. Research needs to be done to determine such things as cataloging the different companies that issued certificates, the number printed, value, and history of the company itself.

Just as in antique telephone collecting where certain phones or manufacturers are more popular to collect such as potbelly candlesticks and Western Electric items, the same holds true for scripophily.

Well, let's get back to telephone certificates. The type of telephone related companies one finds on certificates are: Telephone operating companies, telephone equipment manufacturers, radio telephone, telegraphing typewriter (teletype), and finally we can even include telegraph companies. The illustrations shows a certificate from the Roxite Company. (Following page). Pictured on the certificate is a long pole receiver sitting on the writing shelf of a 3-box phone. On the cap of the receiver is the Roxite Company name and patent date. This would lead one to believe this company made long pole receivers. The other certificate shown is from the Gray Manufacturing Co. (Gray Paystation Co.). 

Where are certificates found? Most certificates come on the market and into collectors hands from stock brokers and holding companies clearing out old certificates that had been in storage for years. For example, recently the Penn Central Corp. released for sale through auction hundreds and hundreds of certificates of the various railroads the company controlled during its railroad days. This sale provided collectors collectors with many new certificates from many different railroads. Many certificates that had been considered rare are no longer so.

Any reader who would like more information or has a question may feel free to contact me.