1910, New Jersey. Stock certificate for 10 shares of United Copper Company. Brown/Black. Engraved vignette of a spread eagle at top center and of a factory at bottom center. Signed as president by FREDERICK A. HEINZE (1869 - 1914). Montana copper king. Traveling to Butte, Montana in 1889, Heinze observed vast opportunities in the copper business being overlooked by Marcus Daly and William Clark who were preoccupied with battling one another for control of the region’s mining activities. A series of shrewd moves combined with a superior knowlege of Butte’s copper deposits put Heinze in direct conflict with the Amalgamated Copper Company, a trust which was unpopular with the general public, and miners in particular, for its wage cutting tactics. Heinze maintained wage levels for the miners working under him, thus gaining their support and garnering popularity with the general public. This advantage with the people insured Heinze’s success in the ensuing deep political battles arising from the “apex law”, a law concerning the rights to a vein of ore which expanded under other’s property. His favor with the people, judges and political allies brought Heinze to control the Butte Copper industry. Legislation in 1903 weakened this control and in 1906, Heinze sold the bulk of his holdings in Montana for $10,500,000. With this wealth, he formed the United Copper Company, gaining control of a number of banks and attempting to organize a Copper Trust. The fall of United Copper stock, which was heavily hypothecated brought a run on Heinze’s banks and contributed in large part to the panic of 1907. In subsequent years, Heinze never regained the power he once wielded though he remained active in a number of railway and mining projects. Punch cancelled and very fine.