An archive in the Netherlands has uncovered the oldest known share of stock in a company. The West Frisian Archive says the share in the Dutch East India Company (the world's first joint-stock limited liability company with freely transferable shares.) is dated September 9, 1606.
The share was issued to someone named Pieter Harmenz, a personal assistant to the mayor of the city of Enkhuizen, which then rivaled Amsterdam as one of the nation's most important ports. The share was found by Ruben Schalk, a college student working on his history thesis.
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