The Wachovia Corp Specimen Stock Certificate

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The Wachovia Corp Specimen Stock Certificate - Now Wells Fargo

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Vintage Stock Certificate

Product Code: SC1898-2

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Wachovia dates back to 1879 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as the Wachovia Bank. They took the name Wachovia Bank and Trust Company in 1911 after the advent of trust companies in 1891. Over the years they merged with several large companies including First Union, Prudential, Metropolitan West Securities, Westcorp, and A.G. Edwards. This Wachovia Specimen Stock Certificate was printed in 1970.

During the Financial Crisis of 2008 they incurred heavy loan losses and institutional depositors removed massive sums of money. Due to its size, regulators were concerned of their impact on FDIC insurance funds. Should Wachovia fail, it could drain the insurance funds. The FDIC pressured the bank to put itself up for sale. During the course of a weekend, business halted. They were deemed "To Big To Fail" by regulators, the first time the FDIC used this designation. Overnight they brokered a deal with Citibank to purchase the retail banking operations. Wachovia shareholders would receive $1 per share. Shortly after, Wells Fargo stepped in with a better offer. After some court battle with Citigroup, the Fed approved the purchase by Wells Fargo.

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.