How to find the value of your old stock certificates?
To determine the value of an old stock certificate, you will need to verify if the company is still active, the current (or most recent name) of the company and if its shares are still tradable. Start by determining the company’s status. You will need to determine if the company is still in existence. Different resources are available to you.
What to do if you find an old stock certificate?
Your local library may have print and online sources that will help you find out, in what form, and if its stock still has value. You can do a quick check on free stock market quote services, such as: Big Charts. Over the Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB)
How do you sell old stock certificates?
Old certificates can be worth anywhere from $10 to $10,000, although most samples will fall in the lower end of the range. Collectors value certificates for the history of the issuing companies ...
What is the value of old stock certificates?
· Check the certificate to see if the Transfer agent's name is listed on it. Perhaps even the address. If so, contact them and see what those two shares represent today. Plan B would be to see customer service at Wells Fargo and see if they can assist you in determining what, if anything, these shares are worth.
The Key Pieces of Information
Start by looking at a few things on the certificate. Look for the company name and location of incorporation, a CUSIP number , and the name of the person with whom the security is registered. All of these items are important and can likely be found on the certificate's face.
Transfer Agent
If you have been successful in finding all this information, you will need to locate the name of the transfer agent. The easiest way is to contact the company and ask it directly.
The Importance of Documentation
If you are inheriting securities, ensure the individual whose name is on the certificate has bequeathed it to you. A probated will with the necessary signatures of the executors may be required by the transfer agent before it will transfer ownership.
Have Someone Else Do the Work for You
For those of you who have gone through all of these steps without any success, there are other means by which you can have your old stock certificates researched, but they will cost you some money.
Step 1: Head Down to the Library
There are reasonably priced databases although many of those are available at your local library.
Step 2: State Business Entity Search
Let's continue with Bowser Delaware Corp. from the previous steps example. The company was (as we assembled) incorporated in Delaware. From the state of Delaware we can receive the date of termination of the company and the company's last transfer agent which will be critical later on.
Step 3: Contact the Company's Transfer Agent
From our local library we were able to track down the various corporate changes that the company went through. From the Secretary of State's site we found a Business Entity Search. From this search we were able to gather the Transfer Agent information.
Step 4: Professional Help
At this point you have pieced together the entire corporate history for the shares that you own! If the transfer agent requires for you to get proof-of-purchase for your shares or any other legal matters arise it is at this point where professional help can be a very valuable resource.
2 Comments
Is there an updated link for places that can do the legwork on stocks current value? The link in this article is dead
What do you do if you have a stock certificate?
What do you do if you have a stock certificate? The first step to determine the value of the stock is to see whether or not the company still exists.
What if the above sources don't help?
What if the above sources don't help? Certain records are kept by the state under whose laws the company was incorporated. Be aware that the state of incorporation and the state in which the company is located may not be the same.
Determine Legal Status
Scripophily.net is an online dealer in stock certificates that will research your certificate’s status for a small fee that is waived if no results are found. You can also refer to the "Financial Stock Guide Service," a book that lists defunct companies and transfer agents.
Prove Ownership
Provide documentation that ownership has been transferred or assigned to you, either in the form of a will, trust document or other document, to the transfer agent, who can transfer legal possession of the certificate to your brokerage account. Ideally, you should have a paper trail connecting you to previous holders of the certificate.
Obtain Values of Certificates
The transfer agent should be able to assist you in reconciling the value of the certificate with corporate actions that would have caused changes to face value or the number of shares owned, such as splits and shareholder recapitalizations.
Certificates as Collectors' Items
If the legal value of the stock certificate is zero, it may still be of value due to demand generated by collectors of old stock certificates. Old certificates can be worth anywhere from $10 to $10,000, although most samples will fall in the lower end of the range.
The Key Pieces of Information
Transfer Agent
- If you have been successful in finding all this information, you will need to locate the name of the transfer agent. The easiest way is to contact the company and ask it directly. The main reason you need to go to a transfer agent is companies rarely handle their own securities in-house. They prefer to have another company take care of the bookkeeping and issuing of securities. The tran…
The Importance of Documentation
- If you are inheriting securities, ensure the individual whose name is on the certificate has bequeathed it to you. A probated will with the necessary signatures of the executors may be required by the transfer agent before it will transfer ownership. Once the certificates have been delivered back to you in your name, you can deposit them with a broker and sell them accordingly.
Have Someone Else Do The Work For You
- For those of you who have gone through all of these steps without any success, there are other means by which you can have your old stock certificates researched, but they will cost you some money. For a fee, stock search companies will do all of the investigative work for you and, if the certificate ends up having no trading value, they may offer to purchase it for a collector's value. …