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Auction: 323 - The Numismatic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 1579

Soldiers' Business Messenger and Dispatch (NY), certificate for 22 shares at $25 each, March 7, 1868, #44, black, New York State shield surrounded by drums, flags and cannons, soldier with rifle, embossed seal, red 25 cent revenue stamp affixed and tied in with "S.B. M. D.", printed by J. O. Seymour, issued to one General, and signed by three other Generals, two from the War Between the States, and two promoted after the war. Signed as president by Major-General Alexander Shaler, a Medal of Honor winner from the Civil War and founder and President of the National Rifle Association. The purpose of this company was to "…furnish employment , so far as practicable, to worthy, disabled soldiers and orphan sons of soldiers who lost their lives or became disabled ,while serving in the volunteer army of the United States, in regiments raised in and accredited to the State of New York." The company, located at 2 Park Place in Manhattan, paid $35 per month to soldiers able to receive and deliver packages, bundles, property, and messages by sealed envelopes and magnetic telegraph within the territory known as the Metropolitan Police District made up of New York counties Kings, Westchester and Richmond.

Signed by Major-General Alexander Shaler as president. Shaler joined the New York Militia as a Private in 1848, and by 1860 was promoted to Major. Deploying briefly to the Defense of Washington, D.C. with the Seventh Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, Shaler became Lieutenant Colonel in the 65th New York, receiving a promotion to full Colonel in time to lead the 65th during the Second Battle of Fredericksburg, at Marye's Heights, where he personally carried the Union colors into the Fort Jubal despite heavy gunfire from the Confederate artillery and infantry. He subsequently was awarded earned a promotion to General, and the Medal of Honor. Shaler was later captured at the Battle of the Wilderness, and spent the remainder of the War in the Department of the Gulf. In 1883 he became one of the founders, and president of the National Rifle Association.

First this cataloger has seen, and certainly one of premier importance to any major collection of stock certificates relating to the Civil War and its aftermath.
Extremely Fine

Estimate
$4,000 to $4,500