NEW BOOK: CATALOG OF PUERTO RICO STOCKS AND BONDS

Our member Dennis De Jesús Rodríguez has self-published a paperback book on the scripophily of Puerto Rico. Congratulations on his endeavor! It is 127 pages on slick paper with 390 color illustrations of over 400 stocks and bonds sorted by types and varieties and divided into 19 categories (railroads, autos, petroleum and gas, etc). The language is Spanish but content is readily interpreted.

There is a general introduction in Spanish and English edited by Terry Cox. Price estimates (“VE” = price), printers and other information are given for each listing. Many of the listings are American Bank Note Co specimens. Dennis calls this “Part I” because he intends to publish a second part after he records more scripophily. He is happy to correspond at dennis12@coqui.net.

Dennis was born in New York in 1958 but his family returned to Puerto Rico when he was three. He has been collecting since he was 8 years old (stamps, coins, world banknotes). He thinks publishing his book is a “way of staying alive when I pass away”. He chose stocks and bonds because of the lack of reference books on the topic. His first Puerto Rico bond was from the Territorial and Agriculture Bank of Puerto Rico, purchased when he was 20 and “then I only wanted to frame it”.

He was greatly influenced by Terry Cox’ publications on North American rails, and effusively credits him for helping with and inspiring the Puerto Rico catalog. He also includes a nice “plug” for the IBSS.

His main collecting started about 11 years ago. He purchased the Cox railroad catalog and began buying older and artistic certificates. He also says George LaBarre sent him a book on art in stocks and bonds as a gift. His book lists more than 200 of his own certificates. Others he has obtained from various sources, for example famous Puerto Rico collector Humberto Costa, now deceased, who let Dennis scan his collection - now owned by the Banco Popular. Otherwise he got little support in Puerto Rico, and most of the scans were from people wanting to sell him material. Also, eBay sellers did not reply to requests for better scans (similar to our experience trying to obtain scans for our eBay auction reports!). Some stocks were in poor condition but the author has done wonders with Paint.

His favorite certificate is on the book cover. He says he knows nothing about the company. Sadly, neither does this reviewer, who owns the only other one known. He designed the cover and lay-out, and had it printed at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus near his home. 2-column printing was used to reduce cost. He wants to sell the first group of 25 before ordering more. So it is a very limited edition. It is available through eBay (where he thought he’d get the most exposure) at $65 plus shipping from Puerto Rico. He will consider a better price if you contact him directly at the email above.

Many people talk about publishing a book on their collection. Once again, Dennis has shown that it can be done.

For more information, or to order, see:
NEW!! CATALOG OF PUERTO RICO STOCKS AND BONDS (1813-present) (https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-CATALOG-OF-PUERTO-RICO-STOCKS-AND-BONDS-1813-present/323345658288)

For more information on the International Bond and Share Society, see:
https://scripophily.org/

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