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Wells Fargo Company, Omaha Treaty Stock Certificate, 1870 issued to Wells [132710]

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:2,500.00 USD Estimated At:5,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
Wells Fargo Company, Omaha Treaty Stock Certificate, 1870 issued to Wells  [132710]
SOLD
2,500.00USD+ (625.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2021 May 13 @ 12:14UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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This is an extremely important Wells Fargo certificate that marks the beginning of Wells Fargo as a world-class Western business entity. As you know from the lengthy story we published along with these autographs on our website about American Express and Wells Fargo, the Henry Wells, William Fargo, and John Butterfield families all joined forces together to form a new company called American Express in 1850. In 1852 when Butterfield, as part of the Butterfield – Wells – Fargo business family, chose not to move forward with business into California, the Wells and Fargo portions of that business family started the Wells Fargo company for California business in 1852. Over the years the company is run by Wells, Fargo, and Butterfield grew. These companies included stage lines, express businesses, telegraph businesses, and others. With the coming of the new transcontinental railroad, there was great debate over whether this railroad would ever get finished on time in 1869. Wells and Fargo in particular, thought the railroad had no chance of finishing on time and as such essentially ignored it. Meanwhile a number of others realized that the transcontinental railroad was the future and that transcontinental stagecoach lines such as Butterfield's Overland express, the pony express and others to become a thing of the past. During this critical period of the late 1860s, Wells Fargo's stock in New York began to decline in price. Sensing the opportunity for a major acquisition, California business financiers Lloyd Tavis, Dio Mills, and friends began buying up Wells Fargo stock at a fraction of its value on the New York market. Unknown to most involved, by 1869 they had control of the stock. Meanwhile Tavis had cut a deal to purchase the Pacific Union express which had the contract for mail on the new Central Pacific Railroad. When the railroad was completed Tavis had a meeting in Omaha Nebraska behind closed doors with Wells Fargo and Butterfield. The outcome was that Lloyd Tavis took control of the company that day they cut a deal with the original owners, such that Wells and Fargo got the business east of the Missouri River and Teva's and company now known as Wells Fargo got all the business west of the Missouri River. This stock certificate is one of the few known that represent that takeover. There are approximately five of these certificates known, it is unquestionably one of the most important of all the Wells Fargo and American express documents.

Please Be Sure to Read Fred Holabird's Essay about the History of American Express & Wells Fargo, as Revealed by Stock Certificates. Found on our website (www.holabirdamericana.com) and at this link: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5fc4471740f1034a5cbea1cb/t/608c5f973eb079200afd59db/1619812257446/American+Express+and+Wells+Fargo.pdf


Date: 1870
Country (if not USA):
State: New York
City: New York
Provenance: Ken Prag Collection