American Express Co. - Specimen Stock Certificate - Rare Type

Specimen Stock printed by American Bank Note Company. The American Express Company (AMEX) is a global financial services corporation located at 200 Vesey Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City. Established in 1850, it is one of the 30 companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company's emblem, introduced in 1958, features a gladiator or centurion, which is prominently displayed on its widely recognized traveler's cheques, charge cards, and credit cards.

In the 1980s, Amex made significant investments in the brokerage sector, acquiring what eventually became Shearson Lehman Hutton. This entity was later restructured into Smith Barney Shearson, which was owned by Primerica, and a revitalized Lehman Brothers. By 2008, the Shearson and Lehman names had both disappeared from the market. As of 2016, credit cards operating on the American Express network represented 22.9% of the total dollar volume of credit card transactions in the United States. By December 31, 2019, the company had issued 114.4 million cards, with 54.7 million of those in circulation within the United States, each cardholder averaging an annual expenditure of $19,972.