MERCHANTS EXCHANGE of ST. LOUIS Certificate 1923. Commodity Trading Eads Bridge

Description

Merchants Exchange of St. Louis. Certificate of Membership issued June 12, 1923 at St. Louis, Missouri
. Certificate
No. 9918
was issued to Charles W. McConaughy. Hand signed by
president W. J. Edwards
and
secretary Eugene Smith
. Certificate is about 9.5” x 11.5”. Black print on cream-colored paper.
Vignettes with the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River (top center), large buildings on the river (top left and right), and the Merchants Exchange Building in St. Louis (bottom center).
The Merchants' Exchange of St. Louis was organized in 1836 for the purpose of trading cash and futures products, including barge freight. The Merchants’ Exchange was the first commodity trading exchange in the United States. Since its founding in 1836, the Merchants’ Exchange of St. Louis and its members, who once numbered over 6,000, have played a central role in the cultural, political and economic fabric of the St. Louis community. For most of its history, the Merchants’ Exchange was housed in an elegant building in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It boasted the largest open room west of the Mississippi River (see attached depictions of the Merchants' Exchange Building ca. 1870s, and the building interior with the 1876 Democratic National Convention).
In its first century, members of the Merchants’ Exchange, a veritable Who’s Who of the region’s political and economic elite, would trade a wide array of cash and futures contracts during the daily trading sessions at the Merchants’ Exchange. Contracts that have been traded at the Merchants’ Exchange include corn, soybeans and hogs, in addition to buffalo skins, barrels of whiskey and, of course, barge freight. In 1874, Merchants’ Exchange members formed a bridge company and financed the construction of the Eads Bridge, the first bridge to span the Mississippi River and an engineering marvel in its time. Leaders of the Merchants’ Exchange believed that the bridge was a sure-fire means for St. Louis to establish preeminence over Chicago for economic hegemony in the Midwest. Two years later, the Merchants’ Exchange hosted the 1876 Democratic National Convention on its grand trading floor. In the late 1950s, the grand old Merchants’ Exchange building was razed in the name of urban progress.
Condition:  Very Fine
, several folds, minor creasing, no tears, minor signs of wear/handling/toning (see photos), stamp cancelled.
Printer:
(none noted)
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