Founded in 1811 in Philadelphia, the Girard Bank was formed after the charter ended for the First Bank of the United States and Stephen Girard purchased the majority of its shares and facilities. The Girard Bank basically financed the war of 1812 underwriting almost 95% of the Governments loans. Their headquarters is now the Ritz Carlton Philadelphia Hotel. They would change their name to the Girard Trust Bank in 1969 and were eventually sold to Mellon Bank in 1983.

This fantastic Girard Trust Bank Specimen Stock Certificate features the Girard Trust Building in the vignette which is now the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Specimen stock certificates are certificates that were archived by printers and the company as perfect examples of the company’s stock issue. Specimen’s can be identified by their “specimen” stamp, stamped holes spelling “specimen”, or they are often issued with a serial number of a series of zeros. Often, they are also issued with no serial number at all. Specimens can also represent a design that was never issued. All of these attributes make the specimen stock certificate rarer than the issued version of the share. Many enthusiasts collect specimens as a whole new category of Scripophily.