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£50 Chinese Government Skoda Loan II 1925 bearing 8% Interest Bond - China Uncanceled Bond

Inv# FB6083B   Bond
£50 Chinese Government Skoda Loan II 1925 bearing 8% Interest Bond - China Uncanceled Bond
Country: China
Years: 1925

Chinese Government 50 Pound Sterling Bond bearing 8% interest. (High rate of interest). 7 interest coupons attached.

Article relating to this Chinese item: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-29/trump-s-new-trade-war-weapon-might-just-be-antique-china-debt

In 1911, the Imperial Chinese Government issued the Skoda Loan I for the purchase of naval and military arms from the Skoda-Works in Pilsen, Bohemia & the Italian Monfalcone Shipbuilding Yards.

Skoda Loans II of a total £6.9m were issued after agreements in 1922 & 1925 between the Chinese Ministry of Finance & the Italian Bank for China, formerly known as Sino-Italian Bank, acting on behalf of the Bondholders of the Skoda Loan II.

For every £100 Skoda Loan I due, a new £150 of this Skoda Loan II was issued. Coupons were payable at Credito Italiano & J. Hambro & Sons, both in London. The loans were printed by the Bureau of Engraving & Printing in Peking, China.

The Škoda Works was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century, founded by Czech engineer Emil Škoda in 1859 in Plzeň, then in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Austrian Empire. It is the predecessor of today's Škoda Auto, Doosan Škoda Power and Škoda Transportation companies.

The noble Waldstein family founded the company in 1859 in Plzeň, and Emil Škoda bought it in 1869. It soon established itself as Austria-Hungary's leading arms manufacturer producing heavy guns for the navy, mountain guns or mortars along with the Škoda M1909 machine gun as one of its noted products. Besides producing arms for the Austro-Hungarian Army, Škoda has ever since also manufactured locomotives, aircraft, ships, machine tools, steam turbines and equipment for power utilities.

In 1859, Count Wallenstein-Vartenberk set up a branch of his foundry and engineering works in Plzeň. The output of the plant, employing over 100 workers, included machinery and equipment for sugar mills, breweries, mines, steam engines, boilers, iron bridge structures, and railway facilities. In 1869, the plant was taken over by Emil Škoda, an industrious engineer and dynamic entrepreneur.

Škoda soon expanded the firm, and in the 1880s, he founded what was then a very modern steelworks capable of delivering castings weighing dozens of tons. Steel castings and later forgings for larger passenger liners and warships went on to rank alongside the sugar mills as the top export branches of Škoda's factory.

In 1899, the ever-expanding business was transformed into a joint-stock company, and before World War I, Škoda Works had become the largest arms manufacturer in Austria-Hungary. It was a navy and army contractor, mainly supplying heavy guns and ammunition.

Exports included castings, such as part of the piping for the Niagara Falls power plant and for the Suez Canal sluices as well as machinery for sugar mills in Turkey, breweries throughout Europe, and guns for the Far East and South America.

World War I brought a drop in the output of peacetime products. Huge sums were invested into expanding production capacities. By then, Škoda Works held majorities in a number of companies in the Czech lands and abroad that were not involved in arms manufacture. In 1917, the company had 35,000 employees in Plzeň alone.

Following the emergence of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, the complex economic conditions of postwar Europe caused the company to be transformed from what was exclusively an arms manufacturer into a multi-sector concern. In addition to traditional branches, the production programme embraced a number of new concepts, such as steam (and later electric) locomotives, freight and passenger vehicles, aircraft, ships, machine tools, steam turbines, power-engineering equipment, etc.

In 1923, the company's world-famous registered trademark, the winged arrow in a circle, was entered in the Companies Register. The deteriorating political situation in Europe saw arms production rise again in the mid-1930s.

Škoda manufactured the triple-barreled gun turrets for the Tegetthoff-class battleships of the Austro-Hungarian navy. Prior to World War II, Škoda produced LT-35 tanks, which are better known under their German designation, Panzer 35(t). They were originally produced for the Czechoslovak Army and were used extensively by the Wehrmacht in the Polish campaign, the Fall of France and the German invasion of the Soviet Union. In July 1944, Škoda started production of the Jagdpanzer 38(t).

In 1924, Škoda Works acquired the Laurin-Klement car manufacturer, later known as Škoda Auto. The companies were separated after 1945, when all of the Czechoslovak economy was nationalised.

Mountain guns produced by Škoda
Other weapons produced by Škoda

In 1945, the year that nationalisation efforts began in Czechoslovakia, Škoda was nationalised, and many sections were split from the company. The car works in Mladá Boleslav became Automobilové závody, národní podnik, AZNP, today's Škoda Auto, and the aircraft plant in Prague and truck plant became part of a conglomerate of nine truck producers headquartered in Liberec as LIAZ (Liberecké automobilové závody), although the trucks were still marketed as Škodas. Some factories in Slovakia were also split off, and other plants produced food-industry equipment.

The company was renamed Závody Vladimíra Iljiče Lenina (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Works) in 1953, but since the new name caused losses of sales abroad, the name was changed back to Škoda in 1965.

The factory concentrated on markets in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. The company produced a wide range of heavy machinery such as nuclear reactors and locomotives. A lack of updates to its product designs and infrastructure considerably weakened the company's competitive position and its brand.

After 1962, Škoda became well known in the Soviet Union and other countries as a trolley bus manufacturer after it began to export Škoda 9 Tr, one of its most successful models. The successor, Škoda 14 Tr, manufactured between 1982 and 1997, is still widely used, for example, in post-Soviet states.

In 1978, the company was turned into the government-owned group of companies ("koncern") Škoda. It was based in Plzeň and consisted of the companies: První brněnská strojírna (First Machine Works of Brno), ČKD Blansko, ČKD Dukla Praha-Karlín in Prague, Slovenské energetické strojárne S. M. Kirova (Slovak S. M. Kirov Energy Machine Works) in Tlmače, and Výzkumný ústav energetických zařízení (Energy Facilities Research Institute) in Brno.

After the Communist Party lost power in late 1989, the company was privatized into the hands of management. Mismanagement and asset stripping led to a collapse. The company was restructured and some factories closed. Except for some smaller companies named Škoda and Škoda Auto, after the chaotic 1990s period, the Czech Škoda companies were again regrouped within the holding company Škoda Holding a.s. in 2000. In 2010, the holding company changed its name to Škoda Investment, a.s..

Following the change in the political climate in 1989, Škoda started along a path of privatisation and used the time to come up with an optimal production programme, make new business contacts and look for markets other than those that had so far been its priority markets, communist countries.

In 1991, a foreign partner for the passenger car works Škoda Auto a.s. was sought by the Czech government. Volkswagen was chosen, and the German firm initially took a 30% stake, rising to 100% ownership by 1999. Škoda Auto is now a completely-independent entity from other companies bearing the Škoda name.

In 1992, the company was privatised by the so-called Czech method. It began expanding its production activities, acquiring the Tatra and LIAZ vehicle works and constructing a plant to produce aluminum soft drink cans. The expansion put the company's financial stability in jeopardy. In 1999, it concluded an agreement with creditor banks, and the restructuring of the entire capital structure of the Škoda group was undertaken. The result was the legal and financial stability at the company. Currently, a sectoral restructuring of production companies in the group is under way. In April 2000, Škoda Holding a.s. took over the helm, controlling nineteen primary subsidiaries and most product lines.

In 2003, the Czech government sold its 49% stake to the Appian Group for 350 million CZK; (in 2020, equivalent to 14,78 million USD) later that year the Appian Group acquired the rest of its stake in a liquidation of the previous owner. The Appian Group is a holding company incorporated in the Netherlands and controlled through a screen of shell companies. The real owner or owners are unknown, despite investigations by the Czech police. In September 2010, a group of four current or former Škoda or Appian managers announced that it would acquire Škoda from Appian for an undisclosed price. The Czech media speculated that the acquisition was only a formality, as the managers probably owned the parent company Appian.

Škoda was then focused solely on the transport sector. Other divisions have been sold, a large part of them to the Russian company OMZ (the price was not published, estimated at around 1 billion CZK). Some smaller transport companies were acquired, such as part of the Hungarian company Ganz, VÚKV (owner of the Velim railway test circuit) and some transport-related assets of the former ČKD, now called Škoda Vagonka. In 2009, Škoda holding announced that the South Korean conglomerate Doosan would acquire its power section for 11,5 billion CZK (656 million USD). Finally, in March 2011, Škoda sold its Škoda Transportation subsidiary to Cyprus-based company Škoda Industry (Europe) Ltd, later renamed CEIL (Central Europe Industries) Ltd.

As of 2012, Škoda Investment still owns the Škoda brand and some real estate but does not perform any industrial activity. Between 2007 and 2012, the company paid dividends to Appian, a sum of 32 billion CZK (1.18 billion euro or 1.6 billion USD).

Škoda Transportation produces various types of trolleybuses, tramcars, locomotives and rapid transit train systems. More can be found at: List of Škoda Transportation products.

Former subsidiaries

  • Power division sold to Doosan produces as Doosan Škoda Power (former Škoda Power) steam turbines, heat exchangers and condensers
  • Metallurgy division held by United Group produces as Pilsen Steel (former Škoda, Hutě, Plzeň) crankshafts, turbine components or ingots
  • Nuclear division sold to OMZ produces as Škoda JS equipment for nuclear plants or oil refining, petrochemical and gas industry
  • Transportation division produces as Škoda Transportation trolleybuses, tramcars, electric locomotives, electric multiple units and rapid transit train systems.
  • Škoda Praha sold to ČEZ Group is supplier of power generation projects and their technological parts.
  • Former Škoda Vyzkum research institute now operating as VZÚ Plzeň
  • TS Plzeň a.s. (former Škoda TS) is active in heavy engineering, doing curing presses, hydraulic presses, equipment for rolling-mill plants and equipment for sugar-cane refineries.
  • Brush SEM, owned by UK based FKI, manufactures generators.
  • Pilsen Tools s.r.o. and Škoda Machine Tool a.s. are active in the machine tool sector.
  • Czech Precision Forge a.s. does open- die and closed-die forging of steel and non-ferrous alloys.
  • MKV Ozubená kola s.r.o. and Wikov Gear s.r.o. produce gearboxes and gear wheels.

Cantiere Navale Triestino – abbreviated CNT, or in English Trieste Naval Shipyard – was a private shipbuilding company based at Monfalcone operating in the early 20th century. The yard still functions today, though under a different name.

Cantiere Navale Triestino was founded in 1908 by the Cosulich family. The company was largely Italian, though the site, at Monfalcone, was in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Up to the outbreak of the First World War CNT had built several ships, both merchant such as Belvedere and military such as the cruiser Saida for the Austro-Hungarian Navy (KuK). At the outbreak of war between Italy and Austria in 1915 the largely Italian workforce abandoned the shipyard, while the site itself was too close to the front line to continue to operate. It was occupied by the Italian Army on 8 June 1915 and was under fire from the Austrians from July to September 1915 during the Battle of the Isonzo. The company continued to operate, using facilities loaned by DDSG at Budapest and the Naval Arsenal at Pola. During the war CNT built submarines for the KuK, including several of the U-27 class of U-Boats.

After World War I, the Trieste region was ceded to Italy and the firm built naval and commercial vessels for its new host country. In 1923 the company branched out into aviation, leading to the formation of the CANT aircraft company. In 1929 CNT was merged with another Italian shipbuilding firm, Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino to form Cantieri Riuniti dell' Adriatico (CRDA). As CRDA Monfalcone the company specialized in submarines, building 47 of Italy's 100 pre-war submarine fleet.

CRDA Monfalcone's shipyards remained active well into the postwar period, becoming part of the Fincantieri group in 1984.

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Condition: Excellent

A bond is a document of title for a loan. Bonds are issued, not only by businesses, but also by national, state or city governments, or other public bodies, or sometimes by individuals. Bonds are a loan to the company or other body. They are normally repayable within a stated period of time. Bonds earn interest at a fixed rate, which must usually be paid by the undertaking regardless of its financial results. A bondholder is a creditor of the undertaking.

Item ordered may not be exact piece shown. All original and authentic.
Price: $905.00