国际英语新闻：World's oldest stock certificate found in Netherlands

THE HAGUE, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- An old note a Dutch student found in the West Fries Archive in Hoorn of the Netherlands is identified as hitherto the oldest share in the world, the archive said on Thursday.

This share in the Dutch East India Company is dated Sept. 9, 1606, which was issued three weeks before what had been the oldest known share in the corporation.

The Archive said that the holder of this share was Pieter Harmenz and the share is worth 150 guilders.

An interesting feature is that  this share also noted the dividend payments of East India Company from 1610 up to 1650, which represents part of the development history of the company.

The Dutch East India Company was established in 1602 on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange for dealings in its printed stocks and bonds. This is considered the oldest stock exchange and the first printed stock.

The share was found by a history student of Utrecht University during his thesis research in the archive.

The share goes on display Friday at the West Frisian Museum.