PARAGUAY. Empresa de Tramways de F. Morra. 10 Centavos, (ca.1885). P-UNL. Choice Uncirculated.This rare Paraguayan Tramway Company ticket is an example of the resourcefulness of people when confronted by an extreme shortage of circulating coinage. Although created as a ticket for a ten-centavo tram fare, its usage as substitute for a 10 c. note was wide-spread, and circulated so intensely that it became a numismatic rarity for future collectors.<p><p>This note is perfectly pristine and unimprovable, and will grade high uncirculated. Its original numbered stub is attached, and has never been folded.<p><p>The <em>Empresa de Tramways</em> rail line terminals were originally the Central Railway Station and Belvedere Park in Asuncion. Its limited reach led to financial difficulties, which the alert entrepreneur Dr. Francisco Morra saw as a business opportunity. He purchased the company from its prior owners for 10,000 Argentine Pesos. He had tickets printed in Buenos Aires by Guillermo Kraft, well known for printing many issues of provincial and private bank notes of Argentina. The uniface ticket-scrip shows a vignette of a horse-drawn tram at center. Included with this lot is an 1880s picture of the original tramway which shows the same actual horse-and-tram as in the vignette, on the tracks in Belvedere, Asuncion. The picture paired with the note adds a sharp dimension of historic realism. Two pieces, note plus photocopy. Not in "Money of the People" sale.<p><p>Choice Uncirculated.A world-class reference estate collection.
