Belgian old papers

[Guillaume Hermann]

Hi,

My young daughter has found in Paris, along a railway abandoned since 1934, tens of these dividend coupons written in Flemish and dated of the 6th of October 1944. Of course it was not on the ground outside since 1944, but was probably in relation with the flea market who took place in a close street a little earlier.
The recto is always the same except an individual number printed in black. The verso is always the same : a big "1" in red. Another red 1 can be seen on the upper right corner of the recto.
Ggle tells me these papers are Belgian, from Roeselare. Ok, but I would like to understand how it worked :

- who is the issuer?

- was it for a monthly or an annual repayment?

- does someone knows when it was supposed to end?

- what does this 1 mean?

- is this kind of issues typical of the immediate post-war period, or is it just a coincidence here?

- if these coupons are on my desk in 2021, does it mean the original bearer never asked for his money back?

- I am surprised that each coupon is the lower right corner of a sheet. It means that there was not a sheet with all the coupons to cut, but at least one sheet per coupon. Does someone have a photo of a complete document?

Thanks!

[eurocoin]

Do you have a photo?

[Guillaume Hermann]

Yes, but I forgot to attach it!!!!!!! 

[Figleaf]

Believe it or not, but when I was young, shares (and bonds) were made of paper. They usually came in two parts. One part was a single or double sheet of paper with information on the company or loan, called the mantle. The other was a matrix of coupons, called the dividend sheet or interest coupons as the case may be. Your sweet daughter found a series of single dividend coupons.

The coupons referred to the mantle with a number, here 343 to 345. Since all the coupons are the same, there is a serial number on the back to make them all unique.

In the case of equity, the system was that the General Assembly would annually set the dividend for a given year in terms of a fixed amount. The company would announce, e.g. with an ad in national newspapers, that (blabla deleted) from date v to date w, coupon x would be payable for amount y at bank z. The investor would get out his scissors, cut out the coupons, run to the bank and get his dividend in cash for the coupon. The bank would stamp the coupon so that it couldn't be used twice

The case of bonds is similar, except that the payment was automatic and the conditions were stipulated on the mantle so a newspaper ad was not necessary. The exception would be lottery bonds, that would pay a small or no interest, but the mantle would be a free lot in an annual lottery. The winning numbers had to be advertised.

The key to the coupons your daughter found is that after a certain date, the coupons became worthless. I think this is what happened to these coupons. Number 1 was never cashed, so when the coupon above it could be cashed, number 1 became a useless and loose piece of paper. It was nevertheless kept.

Peter

[Guillaume Hermann]

Thanks Peter. It means that each coupon could have been bought separately from others, and all of them may have been paid at the same date?
But why stamp the coupon instead of just let it to the banker?
And no precise relation with the immediate after-war period?
What was the activity of the company which issued these coupons: food sellers, millers?

[THCoins]

The company seems still to exist upto today, in Roeselare, Belgium
Their prime business seems to be in production and sale of cattle food.

[Guillaume Hermann]

Thanks THCoins!

[Figleaf]

But why stamp the coupon instead of just let it to the banker?

They'd do both. Who'd trust a cashier with money or a banker with a paper worth money if there wasn't a separate administration on the side that would match the balance of money the cashier held? The investor would present his coupon. The clerk would stamp it and send it to the cashier. The cashier would have the investor sign a receipt before he'd pay and staple receipt and coupon together.

The stamped or holed coupon would show to the company that the bank had actually paid the dividend or interest. The number would match a number in the share register. The coupon alone proved that the amount had been paid to a shareholder or bondholder (freely negotiable shares and bonds were held anonymously; heaven for tax evaders). The stamp or hole by itself would prevent people (that seems to include bankers ) from using the coupon twice.

Peter

[Guillaume Hermann]

Thanks to all. I have printed your answers and put the paper into the same envelope than the tickets.