Central Aguirre Sugar Company

The Central Aguirre Sugar Company had been incorporated in 1928 as a Massachusetts voluntary association holding shares in operating companies whose prime asset was the control of three mills in Puerto Rico along with transport infrastructure (US investment going back to 1899). From 1905 the Central Aguirre belonged to the sphere of influence of the National Sugar Refining Company. The Central Aguirre was an important player and remained profitable through the Great Depression. Later its fortunes declined and the company assets in Puerto Rico were nationalized. The central Aguirre ceased operations in 1993 and the mostly abandoned town is on the National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico today. The company began liquidation in 1979.

Typical certificate for the second half of the 20th century. A vignette with a harvesting scene between two allegorical figures. Marked “Specimen”. A stamp evidences a reduction of the par value to 2 US-$ and a name change to “Aguirre Company”. The serial number of the specimen indicates that it was introduced in 1968 - which seems plasuible.

The Massachusetts voluntary association also known as Massachusetts business trust was a specialty of the Massachusetts corporate law and was primarily used by holding companies and investment trusts. One pecularity at the  time was that the trusts were not permitted to be perpetual - they needed to provide for a termination date - which was in this case 75 years or 21 years after the death of the last of the named individuals.