4% Secured Sinking Fund Bonds of 1937 issued by
The Government of the Republic of China –
$1,000
This bond is also referred to as the Pacific
Development Loan and was issued by J.P. Morgan in
New York. It is one of the most attractive
Chinese bonds produced and is highly sought after
by collectors. The bond has many of the
characteristics collectors seek, high
denomination, attractive vignettes, high quality
printing (the bond is printed by the American
Bank Note Co. and is of bank note quality), well
known issuing bank (in this case JP Morgan) and
excellent clear condition.
Only three interest payments were paid on the
bond, the last interest payment being made in
January 1939. All principal payments in respect
of the bonds remain outstanding.
Offered by HSBC on behalf of the Peking Syndicate
Ltd, the first issue of 1905 was for £700,000,
the second one in 1906 for £100,000 at 90% and
87½% respectively. The proceeds were used in
connection with financing the construction of a
railway from Taokow to Ching Hua in Honan, which
was opened in 1904.
This bond has a particularly clear watermark.The
bonds have been in default since 1926.
The bonds were sold
in equal shares by HSBC in London and Banque de
L’Indo-Chine in France. The banks made 4%
commission on the issue. The proceeds were used
to refinance an earlier loan which was entered
into in 1899 to fund the construction of the
Peking-Hankow Railway. Approximately 95% of these
bonds were destroyed. All interest being paid,
there are no coupons attached to this
bond.
We
offer a small collection of antique Chinese bond
certificates in Hong Kong. Bond certificates make
excellent gifts and are popular as leaving
presents for friends and colleagues, corporate
gifts, and for personal office and study,
especially in the finance and legal
professions.
The bond was issued by four banks
Deutsch-Asiatische Bank, HSBC, Banque de
L’Indo-Chine, The American Banks (J.P. Morgan
& Co., Kuhn Loeb & Co, First National
Bank of the City of New York and National City
Bank of New York)
The authorised issue
size of this bond was £800,000 (Belgian Francs
48,000,000). The bond was offered by The Societe
Belge D’Entreprises en Chine (SBEC) at a discount
of approximately 99% of face value although SBEC
managed to receive a healthy 12% commission on
the issue. The last interest payment made on the
bonds was in June 1925 in London. All principal
payments in respect of the bonds remain
outstanding.
£1,100,000 of this bond were offered in Shanghai
by HSBC and the Bank of China on behalf of the
China Development Finance Corp and the British
& Chinese Corp at 94%. The banks made 6%
commission on the issue.The proceeds of the issue
were used in part to complete a bridge over the
Chien Tang River which took many years to
complete. However only four days after its
completion it was completely destroyed by the
Chinese military in response to the Japanese
threat to Hanchow. This turned out to be
unfortunate for bondholders as the bonds were
secured on 70% of the tolls collected on the
bridge.
This bond is rare and highly sought after by
collectors, probably because it features a
picture of Sun Yat-Sen and is in denominations of
£100 (which was the highest for this issue). Only
three interest payments were paid on the bond,
the last interest payment being made in December
1937.
Chinese Government 6% Sterling
Shanghai-Hangchow-Ningpo Railway Completion Loan
(1936) – £100
Imperial Chinese Government 5% Hukuang Railways
sinking Fund Gold Loan of 1911 – £20
London Issue (HSBC), French Issue and German
Issue
Chinese Imperial Government Honan Railway 5% Gold
Loan of 1905 - £100
Anglo-French
(Peking-Hankow Ry.) Loan of 1908 (Gold Loan) –
£100 London Issue (HSBC)
8% Railway
Equipment Loan of 1922 £20 (blue)
