The Muscovy Company was an English trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major chartered joint-stock company, the precursor of the type of business that would soon flourish in England and finance its exploration of the world. The Muscovy Company had a monopoly on trade between England and Russia until 1698 and it survived as a trading company until the Russian Revolution. Since 1917, the company has operated as a charity, now working within Russia.
Ivan IV of Russia Shows His Treasury to Jerome Horsey (Alexander Litovchenko, 1875)
Vladimir Kosov. 1553 expedition of Richard Chancellor
A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares. Shareholders are able to transfer their shares to others without any effects to the continued existence of the company.
The transfer letter from 1288 through which Bishop Peter of Västerås reacquires an eighth of Tiskasjöberg, Kopparberget. The original can be found at Riksarkivet (National Archive) in Stockholm.
One of the oldest known stock certificates, issued by the VOC chamber of Enkhuizen, dated 9 Sep 1606