Old Serbian Securities

Eighty-six-year-old Jovan Bošnjakovic occasionally exhibits his collection of old Serbian securities, considered one of the best such collections in the country, at antiquity fairs and other venues.

By Jelena Gligorić

Antiquity fairs are a magnet for members of diverse subcultures of collectors and hobbyists. Objects from long ago contain esoteric knowledge, and it isn't long before the collector or hobbyist learns to speak a secret language known only to those who belong to the same subculture. Among these are the rare scriptophiles – collectors of old securities, primarily shares. The 86-year-old Mr. Jovan Bošnjaković, who comes from a merchant–banking family, began with philately when he was 12 years old. That was in the 1930s. Later, he included numismatics after receiving a larger quantity of Ottoman money as a gift from his mother. About the same time, a book called Ottoman Money in the Region of Niš and Pirot tickled his imagination and led him to his new hobby.

"In 1934, shares of the Eskontna, Trgovačko-Zanatska, Ćilimarska and Zanatska Zadruga banks appeared in my family. This novelty attracted me too, and I gradually entered the world of securities and became an owner of shares. Like my father and older brother, I had shares of Privredna Banka bank in Pirot, and some other banks as well. When the issuance of equities ceased, I began to collect them like old paper money.

I acquired many shares from merchant families who were friends of the family. They no longer needed them as they were now a thing of the past", Uncle Jovan remembers.

Upon completing business school in 1937, Mr. Bošnjaković found employment with renowned Serbian merchant and benefactor Vlada Mitić. It goes without saying that Mr. Bošnjaković's collection includes all types of shares of this particular merchant.

After several decades of collecting, Jovan Bošnjaković now has nearly 900 specimens of old securities, almost all issued in this region through the year 1942. The oldest in his collection date back to 1879, when Serbia was a principality, followed by others from 1882, when Serbia became a kingdom.

"The most beautiful securities are those from 1904 which bear the image of Hajduk Veljko Petrović, of which only 300 were issued. These are securities issued by Krajinska Banka bank whose nominal value was 50 dinars. They are very decorative and very much in demand. Their current value is 150 euros. Securities, like other collector items, cannot be valued simply on the basis of their nominal value or their decorative appeal. They all carry some sort of special value relating either to the bank that issued them or to a certain region or city. Of the 1,200 specimens that have passed through my hands, it is impossible to say which shares were the most decorative; they are all attractive and elaborately illustrated.

One of the major features of equities, including those issued on the territory of Serbia, or the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, was their exceptional artistic treatment. In point of fact, these equities were works of lithographic art produced by top artists and printers. Their attractive and appealing appearance were designed to emphasize their underlying value, and were thus inviting to new share-holders by demonstrating with an initial impression that they carried value. In this context, they even imitated banknotes. Each share is, first of all, adorned by a certain type of bordure. Most frequently they were executed by applying intertwined complex geometric figures. Many shares bear an allegory from their respective country, or the nation where the joint-stock company had been set up. Other figures directly pointing to the firm's headquarters are often added to this allegory.

Reviewing old Serbians and Yugoslav securities from the period between the two World Wars, in addition to a young woman who represents Serbia, one often comes across designs taken over from Pirot kilims, or images of young men and women in national costumes from a certain region. Shares of the Serb-American Bank, one of the most handsome issued here, bears an Art Deco-style silhouette of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbour and the Belgrade skyline dominated by its Cathedral Church steeple.

Allegorical figures were used frequently. They were added to indicate the respective activity of the joint-stock company or to hail the virtues of entrepreneurs. Thus, along with Hermes, the god of trade, one frequently comes across the goddess of vegetation if the company had something to do with agriculture, or cogwheels, implying industrial manufacture, or even drawings of airplanes, as was the case with shares of Aeroput air company. In addition to all that, the motif of a bee(s) and beehives represented diligence and industry.

The world's first ever shares are believed to have been issued in Portugal in the latter part of the 17th century. In Serbia, they were first issued two centuries later. Still, Serbs dealt in shares even before the first joint-stock companies appeared in Serbia. Around 1815, in Novine Srbske, then issued in Vienna, one could have insight on a daily basis into the quoted shares on the Vienna Stock Exchange, including bank stock. Newspapers carried occasional advertisements inviting the public to subscribe and purchase new stock.

The first joint-stock companies in Serbia were founded in the 1820s. During the reign of Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjević, a Commercial Code was adopted for the Principality of Serbia in 1860. After the Grand Assembly in 1868, and the promulgation of a new Constitution the following year, the legal framework covering the founding and operation of joint-stock companies was complete. After that, the first financial agencies, the first factories and the first local savings banks were formed. In 1869, the first Serbian bank was established – as a joint-stock company. It was followed two years later by the Belgrade Credit Agency, the Valjevo Savings Bank and the Smederevo Credit Bank.

Expansion of the market after World War I also saw a rise in this particular economic activity. Issuing shares became the usual - one may even say the most widely used - way to collect capital for founding new companies and for capital expansion of existing companies. Before World War II, in 1937, there were as many as 584 registered banks – joint-stock companies - in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Aeroput Stock The Society for Civil Aviation, Ltd. founding committee was formed on February 6, 1926, when Society regulations were also adopted. Beginning on April 26, registration of shares was launched worth six million dinars divided into 24,000 shares - 250 dinars each. These were registered stock to preclude control of the Society by foreign buyers.

Unfortunately, registration of the founders' stock failed to maintain the expected pace. Through March 1927, of the planned 24,000 shares securing six million dinars, only 2,500 shares were purchased. Accordingly, Aeroput came under threat of being disbanded because of regulations governing joint-stock companies that were in force at the time. Engineer Tadija Sondermajer came up with an idea on how to save the company. He proposed that Leonid Bajdak and himself carry out a flight in stages from Paris to Bombay, India. Sondermajer was counting on the propaganda effect that this extraordinary feat would produce, thereby re-affirming domestic aviation, which would increase Auroput share inscription. After the historic flight of these two remarkable airmen, from April 20 to May 2, 1927, subscription of Aeroput stock rose above all expectations, and the company decided to issue an additional quota of shares at 750 dinars each. In early June 1927, a total of 36,000 shares were purchased, effecting a rise in nominal capital from six to nine million dinars. This, in turn, made it possible for the company to begin acquiring its first aircraft and it stepped up preparations for opening the first regular commercial air route.