Virginia & Truckee Railroad Company

Date

1874

Location

Virginia City, Nevada

Amount

$1,000

Signatures

  • Geo — King
  • Thomas Bell
  • William Sharon

Description

This bond certificate (No. 541) represents $1,000 for the Virginia & Truckee Railroad Company. This railroad line, which in-part still exists today, originally transported ore from the Comstock Lode between Virginia City, Nevada and Truckee, California, running through Reno, Nevada. This bond is signed by Company President William Sharon, a notable Nevada businessman who went on to be a state senator from 1875-1881.

Notable Bond Imagery

Underneath the title, a vignette depicts a steamboats sailing and steam towers in the background. A train crosses a bridge, heading in the direction of a hill. At the bottom of the stock certificate are 24 coupons worth $25 each with punched holes in them.

Certificate with black ink shows intricate bordering, lettering, a company seal, signatures, coupons with holes, and train on a bridge vignette
Backside shows legal language including spacing for signatures and dates and various holes punched out
Transcription 
						The Virginia & Truckee Railroad Company bond certificate reads:
State of Nevada
$1000
Virginia and Truckee RailRoad Company
Bond | No 541

The Virginia and Truckee RailRoad Company Acknowledge themselves to be indebted to Thomas Bell, or bearer, for value received, in the sum of One Thousand Dollars Gold Coin of the United States of America, which sum they promise to pay to the holder hereof in said gold coin at par dollar for dollar on or before the first day of August, 1889, with interest thereon in like gold coin at the rate of Ten per cent per annum, payable quarterly on the first day of November. 1874, and on the first days of February, May, August and November of each year thereafter, at the City of Virginia, Nevada, or at the City of San Francisco, California, upon the surrender of the interest coupons hereto attached.

This Bond being on of one thousand five hundred of the same tenor, amount, and date, the payment of all which, and the interest thereon is secured by a Mortgage upon the Railroad of said Company in the State of Nevada, commencing at the said City of Virginia and running through the Counties of Storey, Lyon, Ormsby, and Washoe to the Town of Reno on the line o f the Central Pacific Railroad, said Mortgage having been executed by said Company to John D. Fry and Robert F. Morrow, of the said City of San Francisco, as Trustees for the holders of said bonds, and duly recorded in the said Counties of Storey, Lyon, Ormsby, and Washoe.

The Company reserve the right to redeem one hundred of said bonds each year, such bonds to be selected by the Board of Directors by lot, and notice of the time and place of redemption and the bonds to be redeemed to be published for one month in a daily newspaper at the said Cities of Virginia and San Francisco, and any of said bonds not presented for redemption at the time and place specified in said notice shall thenceforth cease to bear interest.

In Testimony Whereof the said Company have caused their corporate seal to be affixed to these presents, and the same to be signed by their President and Secretary, and the Coupons hereto attached to be signed by their Secretary, at their Office in said City of Virginia, this for day of August, 1874.
Signed by the Secretary (illegible)
Signed by the President W. Sharon

At the bottom of the stock certificate are 24 of 60 of the aforementioned coupons of interest. They are all identical, except the months, and the number of the coupon goes up by one, starting at 37, ending at 60. They read:
25 | No 37-60
State of Nevada
Virginia and Truckee RailRoad Company
Due Nov/Feb/May/Aug/Nov 1st  1883 - 1889
Interest Coupon
Twenty Five Dollars
Gold Coin of the United States of America
On Bond No 541
Signed by the Secretary Geo — Krieg

The back side of this bond states:
No. 541
Virginia & Truckee Railroad Co,
Ten per cent. Gold Bond
Due August 1st, 1889
$1,000. 
	We hereby certify that this Bond is one of the within described One Thousand Five Hundred Bonds of the same tenor, amount and date, secured by a mortgage executed and delivered to us.
Signed by Trustees (illegible) and (illegible)

Accession No:

2017.002.013