This orange stock certificate from The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, issued in 1943, features cancellation holes, stamps, and handwritten annotations. The certificate's vignette prominently displays the company's two founders, Josiah White and Erskine Hazard.

The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company (LC&N) was formed in 1822 through the merger of the Lehigh Coal Mining Company and the Lehigh Navigation Company, marking the first merger of interlocking companies in the United States. The company's roots date back to 1792 when coal was discovered by Philip Ginter on Sharpe Mountain, later known as Summit Hill, Pennsylvania.

Josiah White and Erskine Hazard, the company's founders, leased the Lehigh Coal Mine properties in 1817 and set about improving the transportation of coal to markets. Their innovative efforts included developing a navigation system for the Lehigh River using locks, dams, and unique "bear trap" locks to allow the passage of coal boats. By 1824, LC&N was successfully transporting coal to Philadelphia.

In 1827-28, LC&N constructed the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, America's second railroad, to bring more coal from the mines to their navigation system. The Lehigh Navigation system, completed in 1829, had the largest carrying capacity of any canal in the United States at the time, connecting to major markets in New York and Philadelphia through the Morris and Delaware Canals.

Despite its early success, the company's fortunes waned as coal lost its dominance in the energy market by the early 20th century. LC&N ceased business activities in 1932. Its coal properties changed hands multiple times before the company was finally dissolved in 1986, after selling its last business, Cella's Chocolate Covered Cherries, to Tootsie Roll.