American Sumatra Tobacco Co. - 1920's-1930's dated Stock Certificate

Stock printed by American Bank Note Company, New York. Larger size stock measuring 13" x 9 3/10". Available in Purple or Brown. Please specify color.

The American Sumatra Tobacco Company, formed in 1907 through the merger of seven prominent tobacco growers and packers, consolidated significant operations in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The company specialized in cultivating shade-grown tobacco leaf, a product renowned for its high-quality cigar wrappers. Notably, it owned the vast 14,000-acre “Amsterdam” plantation in Georgia, a former A. Cohn & Company holding that once held the distinction of being the largest single-owner tobacco plantation globally. During its peak in the 1910s and 1920s, the company emerged as a dominant force in the cigar tobacco market, producing millions of pounds of valuable leaf annually.

However, the company’s success was ultimately undermined by shifting market dynamics and crop diseases. The rise in cigarette popularity significantly reduced the demand for cigars, posing a challenge to a company heavily reliant on selling cigar wrappers. Moreover, a severe plant disease known as “Black Shank” devastated a substantial portion of its crops, pushing the company towards financial distress. In the 1930s, the company faced mounting deficits, and by 1931, it was placed into receivership. Later, in 1955, it was acquired by the Imperial Tobacco Company, but Imperial ceased its tobacco-growing operations by 1965. Consequently, much of the former American Sumatra land was eventually sold off, including the Amsterdam property, which was acquired by Coastal Lumber Company in 1967.