When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
**Item Overview:**
Available for purchase is an exceptional piece of 19th-century American infrastructure history: an original $500 Mortgage Loan Bond issued by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company. **Condition & Visual Highlights:**
* **Framing:** Professionally custom-framed horizontally with high-end black and gold accent molding and an elegant, thick double-mat surround. Ready to display immediately.
* **Vignettes:** Features a highly detailed central engraving of an early steamship traversing a narrow canal, along with a circular top vignette depicting workers operating lock machinery.
* **Security Text:** Features classic crisp typography authorized under the joint incorporation of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland.**Historical Context:**
First opened in 1829, the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal is one of the most critical engineering feats of the American Canal Era, vastly shortening shipping lanes between Philadelphia and Baltimore. In 1919, the United States federal government bought out this private company, making original commercial bonds like this one highly collectible artifacts of early American corporate finance and maritime transit history.**Shipping & Handling:**
Due to the glass and weight of the solid custom frame, this item will be double-boxed and heavily padded using professional-grade bubble wrap to guarantee damage-free arrival. Ships with tracking and insurance.
