1898 Stock Certificate - American Electric Vehicle Company in Chicago, Illinois For Sale

Red serial-numbered authentic xxxx stock certificate issued by the American Electric Vehicle Company located in Chicago and incorporated early xxxx by MIT grad Clinton Edgar Woods. By May, AEV had a car on the streets featuring Baker-designed ball bearing axles, solid rubber tires, and twin motor chain drive to the rear wheels. In xxxx C.E. Woods left to form a new company under his own name, but AEV would go on to produce five models by the end of xxxx. The years xxxx and xxxx were the high point of electric cars in America, as they outsold all steam and gasoline car versions. The early steam-powered cars had unbearably long start-up times on cold mornings and needed frequent water input. Early gasoline cars required a laborious manual effort to start with a hand-crank and gear-shift once the car was moving. The electric vehicle did not have such shortcomings. Most car travel was paved-road local commuting, which was a perfect situation for electric vehicles, since their range was limited and massive urban sprawl was not a factor yet.
Certificate has a cheerful orange border with a peach-colored background on top, bottom and left sides plus white background in the middle. Lower left corner contains a beautiful gleaming embossed gold seal bearing the name of the company. Small graphic in upper left corner depicts a woman in a long gown and wearing a tiara with a star above her forehead while grasping a bolt of lighting with her upraised hand as her other hand balances her body while she rides on the back of a large bird in flight. Banner on left side cites the stock registrar. Bottom of document contains hand-signed signatures of both the Company secretary and president.
Certificate is in Excellent condition and still has most of its original crispness. However, the stock registrar has glued its Issue Stub over 1/2 inch of the left side of the cerificate. Such Issue Stub could be steamed and removed, but the glue probably has left a stain mark underneath. If framing this document, it may be wiser simply to fold back the Issue Stub rather than attempt to remove it. Without the Issue Stub, the certificate would measure 7 13/16 X 11 3/4 inches.