Two Certificates – "Agudat Not'im" – Istanbul, Early 20th Century

Provisional share certificate and a receipt for acquisition of shares of "Agudat Not'im LeMischar VeTa'asiya, Chevra Anonimit Otomanit" ("Agudat Not'im, Anonymous Ottoman Society for Trade and Industry"). Istanbul, ca. 1911-1913.
1. Share certificate confirming that an amount of 50 Turkish Pounds was received from Yitzchak Leib Goldberg, paid on account for 20 shares. Printed on the certificate, in red: "Provisional Certificate" (French). Dated 1911(?). Printed in Hebrew and French, with details filled-in in both languages.
27X31 cm. Good-fair condition. Tears at margins and along vertical folding mark (among them small open tears, slightly affecting text). Stains and creases.
2. Receipt from "Agudat Not'im" confirming payment for acquisition of shares. A declaration appears on the bottom of the receipt: "This receipt is valid until an official certificate from the company is received". Dated 1913. Printed in Hebrew and French, with details filled-in in Russian.
13X17 cm. Good-fair condition. Small tears at margins. Stains and creases.
"Agudat Not'im" was a privately owned Zionist society that aimed to promote settlement in Palestine. The society was founded in 1905 by Aharon Eisenberg, Haim Michel Michlin and Yitzchak Levi. It's plan was to prepare the land for Aliya and to establish settlements on a solid financial basis with orchards and fruit-bearing fields enabling the newcomers to be established as soon as possible. In April 1910 the society registered as an official Ottoman company based in Constantinople, and was the first Zionist society to be registered by the Ottoman authorities. The representative of the company in Constantinople was Gad Frumkin who served as the official director.
Yitzchak (Isaac) Leib Goldberg (1860-1935), Zionist activist and philanthropist, delegate of Vilnius to the Zionist Congress. Among other enterprises, he donated to the purchase lands in Palestine, including large plots in Hadera and Sarona and the lands of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus and was the first publisher of "HaAretz" newspaper.
Provenance: Morton Leventhal Collection, New York.