Carnegie dedicated his last years to philanthropy. When he died in 1919, he only had $ 35 million left, which he bequeathed to charities. He had spent $ 350 million on works for peace and science including the creation of 3,000 public libraries.
Carnegie retires in 1901. He sells his enterprises to John Pierpont Morgan who creates a trust, the United States Steel Corporation. The total price of this sale is $ 480M, of which Carnegie personally receives $ 225M paid in gold bonds at 5% for 50 years. The US Steel is capitalized for a total of $ 1.4 billion.
On January 20 in Würzburg, HWPH sells in one lot three Gold Bonds supplied to Carnegie and his works, lot 563 with a € 25K starting bid. Here is its link on the Invaluable bidding platform.
The main piece of this lot is a $ 100,000 gold bond inscribed to Carnegie's personal ownership in 1901. Five revenue stamps are pasted on the front side. Then comes a $ 20,000 gold bond issued in 1903, with no revenue stamp.
The most recent piece is a $ 100,000 gold bond issued in 1912 for the benefit of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library of Carnegie, Pa and immediately cancelled. On the same day Andrew Carnegie also cancelled the 1901 bond described above and signed it on the back to donate it to the archives of the same library. The borough of Carnegie had been incorporated in his name in 1894 in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.
SOLD for € 25K before fees