Scarce unissued specimen stock certificate for the Netscape Communications Corporation, which brought the first commercial web browser to market and whose 1995 IPO process revolutionized startup funding.
While now relegated to history, in the mid-1990s the dawn of the web Netscape was a high-profile tech trailblazer, among other things introducing JavaScript, HTTP cookies, and SSL/TLS. A core spin-off survives as the Mozilla Foundation, while co-founder Marc Andreessen went on to direct the tech venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
The stock certificate, one page, 12 x 8, 1994, features the pre-printed facsimile signature of company president and CEO James L. Barksdale, who served in said capacity from January 1995 until the company merged with AOL in March 1999. Upper left corner bears ballpoint notations. In fine condition.
