Found Stock Certificate

Heres how to find out if they are worth anything and what to do with them if they are.

Found stock certificate. Keep in mind that due to corporate reorganizations such as splits mergers or reverse mergers. Stock certificates used to serve as the physical proof that you owned shares of a company and were considered a sign of prestige if not wealth. Once you have the information for the transfer agent its time to contact them. A transfer agent is a company that essentially is the record keeper of shareholders for the company.

You found some old stock or bond certificates in the attic of a deceased relative. The transfer agent will know how many shares you have the stock certificate numbers and have all your contact information. In the past investors received physical certificates referred to as in bearer form when they bought stock. Happening upon old stock certificates is actually pretty common.

This was so much the case that many certificates were made with fancy designs and ornate engravings often resembling artwork. The problem of old stock certificates doesnt arise very often anymore because most stocks are kept in electronic form in your brokers computer system. An old stock or bond certificate may still be valuable even if it no longer trades under the name printed on the certificate. Dow jones a news corp.

Old stock and bond certificates.