Bond certificate for the Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Railroad in the amount of £250 at 5%, one page, 14.75 x 10, December 31, 1838. The signatures and seven remaining coupons have been canceled in ink. Realizing the economic benefit that it would bring to South Carolina, the state chartered the Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Railroad in 1838 to encourage the expansion of an existing railroad to the state capital, Columbia. The State of South Carolina agreed to guarantee the issue of 200,000 pounds of 5% sterling railroad bonds for every $500,000 worth of shares sold. The bonds, due in 1866, were to be sold in Europe through the Agency of the Bank of the United States. These are the first known state guaranteed railroad bonds. The handsome certificate boasts a vignette of the state seal and two small images of locomotives. In fine condition, with two edge tears.
