Coca-Cola Co. - Specimen Stock Certificate - Famous Soda Company

Specimen Stock printed by American Bank Note Company. Very Rare!! Confederate Colonel John Pemberton, who sustained injuries during the American Civil War and developed a dependency on morphine, possessed a medical degree and embarked on a mission to discover an alternative to this problematic substance. In 1885, at his establishment, Pemberton's Eagle Drug and Chemical House in Columbus, Georgia, he introduced Pemberton's French Wine Coca nerve tonic. This tonic may have drawn inspiration from the notable success of Vin Mariani, a French-Corsican coca wine, but Pemberton's formulation also incorporated the African kola nut, which served as the source of caffeine in the beverage. Additionally, a Spanish drink known as "Kola Coca" was showcased at a competition in Philadelphia in 1885, a year prior to the official inception of Coca-Cola.

The rights to this Spanish beverage were acquired by Coca-Cola in 1953. In 1886, following the enactment of prohibition laws in Atlanta and Fulton County, Pemberton adapted by creating Coca-Cola, a nonalcoholic variant of Pemberton's French Wine Coca. It was promoted as "Coca-Cola: The temperance drink," resonating with the public as the temperance movement garnered significant support during that era. The initial sales occurred at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886, where it was priced at five cents per glass. During this period, drugstore soda fountains gained popularity in the United States, fueled by the belief that carbonated water was beneficial for health. Pemberton's new beverage was marketed and sold as a patent medicine, with claims that it could remedy various ailments, including morphine addiction, indigestion, nerve disorders, headaches, and impotence. The first advertisement for the drink was published by Pemberton on May 29 of the same year in the Atlanta Journal.