{"product_id":"national-asphalt-company-stock-certificate-from-1901","title":"National Asphalt Company Stock Certificate from 1901","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is an original stock certificate from National Asphalt Company, dated 1901, printed in green. A large American bald eagle with wings spread is featured on the center vignette, perched above a terrestrial globe showing the Americas, rendered with dramatic engraved detail and atmospheric cloud shading. The scalloped border frames the certificate with a repeating wave pattern and decorative corner medallions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIssued to for one hundred shares of 6 Per Cent Cumulative Preferred Stock, marked Full Paid and Non-Assessable. Offered as a collectible.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNational Asphalt Company was incorporated in New Jersey in May 1900, at the height of the great turn-of-the-century merger wave, as the holding company atop America's \"asphalt trust.\" Formed to take control of the Asphalt Company of America, the 1899 combine that had consolidated the nation's major asphalt paving and Trinidad asphalt concerns just as automobile use began transforming demand for paved roads, National Asphalt acquired over 99% of that company's shares within months of its founding. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe empire proved short-lived. National Asphalt had guaranteed interest payments on nearly $30 million in collateral gold certificates issued against the trust's holdings, and when it defaulted in October 1901, the entire combine collapsed into receivership, producing one of the era's most storied corporate failures and years of litigation that reached the U.S. Court of Appeals. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIndustrial infrastructure stocks from this era remain highly sought by collectors, particularly certificates representing the shift from horse-drawn transportation to automobile-age roadways. National Asphalt certificates capture a pivotal moment in American economic history when paving, asphalt production, and road construction became industries unto themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ticker History","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52839629783327,"sku":"INDU-NA-SI-GRN-0000-002","price":199.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0836\/8757\/1743\/files\/rotated-b0bb0dd8-7b39-49a7-8d1a-4a846f6999d1.jpg?v=1788227437","url":"https:\/\/shop.tickerhistory.com\/products\/national-asphalt-company-stock-certificate-from-1901","provider":"Ticker History","version":"1.0","type":"link"}