Bank of America stock certificate 1859 (New York)

Desirable early banking piece!  Awesome vignettes. American Eagle with wings spread with steam train to the left and a sailing ship to the right. Small perched eagle at the bottom. Issued and cancelled. Dated 1859. Approximately 9.5 x 5.5 inches.

The history of Bank of America in New York is the result of numerous mergers and acquisitions involving several predecessor banks, including the original Bank of America chartered in 1812. In 1998, NationsBank of Charlotte, North Carolina, purchased the California-based BankAmerica, adopting the Bank of America name and keeping its The initial "Bank of America" was established in New York City with a state charter in 1812.

It was formed by a group of investors from the recently defunct First Bank of the United States. Over the decades, this New York-based institution grew through mergers. In 1931, it merged with National City Bank to form the second-largest bank in the US at the time. However, this original entity eventually lost its separate identity through further mergers. headquarters in Charlotte.

The Bank of America was a banking house that began operation in New York City in June 1812. Promoters of the bank were stockholders in the First Bank of the United States. When Congress rejected a bill to re-charter the First Bank of the United States in March 1811, sponsors of the Bank of America hoped most of the the old banks' capital would flow into the new bank, making it the leading financial institution in the United States.

On June 2, 1812, the New York State Assembly chartered the Bank of America for twenty years with a capital of $6 million. The bank's charter stipulated that the new bank was to deposit $400,000 of this capital in the state common school fund, $100,000 in the literature fund to promote colleges and universities, and $100,000 in the state treasury for public works. The bank would loan a further $1 million to the state for the construction of roads and canals and another $1 million to farmers and manufacturers to improve and promote agriculture and industry.

The bank opened with Oliver Wolcott as its first president. Financial pressures associated with the War of 1812 forced the directors to reduce the authorized capital from $6 million to $4 million and also reduce the respective amounts to be paid and loaned to the state. The directors subsequently further reduced the capitalization to $2 million. In May 1848, the bank had a capitalization of just over $2 million. By January 1862, its capitalization had grown to $3 million. During the Civil War, the bank participated with other banks in Boston and Philadelphia in loaning the federal government $150 million to prosecute the war.

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