How to Find the Value of a Stock Certificate

A stock certificate represents partial ownership in a company.

A stock certificate is a piece of paper that represents the ownership of stock in a company. It shows the name of the corporation, the number of shares the certificate represents, the state and date of the company's incorporation and other information. If the company's stock still trades in the public markets, the value of its stock certificate is readily available. Even if a company has dissolved or its stock no longer trades in the public markets, you can conduct some research to determine whether its stock certificates still have value.

Instructions

1. Check whether the stock of the company listed on the certificate actively trades in the stock market or is obsolete in the "Financial Stock Guide Service," which is a directory of new and old stocks, updated annually. You can find the directory in your local library.

2. Visit any financial website or check any business newspaper that provides stock prices, and find the price per share of stock if the company's stock still actively trades in the public markets.

3. Identify on the stock certificate the number of shares the certificate represents. Multiply the price per share by the number of shares the stock certificate represents to calculate the value the certificate represents. For example, if a stock certificate that still actively trades on the public markets represents five shares of stock and its stock trades for $10 per share, multiply 5 by $10 to get a $50 value of the stock certificate.

4. Check the "Robert D. Fisher Manual of Valuable & Worthless Securities" at your local library to see if the certificate of an obsolete stock may have a liquidating value or exchange value. This may entitle you to redeem an obsolete certificate at an existing company that may have taken over or merged with the company that issued the certificate.

5. Check an online auction website that sells collectible stock certificates to determine if an obsolete stock certificate the same as yours is currently for sale or has recently sold. If so, your obsolete certificate may have a similar value.

6. Contact an antique dealer or collectibles shop that deals in "scripophily," the collecting of old stock and bond certificates, to determine whether your stock certificate has any value as a collectible. The Enoch Pratt Free Library recommends you visit the "obsolete securities" page of the Goldsheet Mining Directory website to find the contact information of U.S. and international dealers and organizations that deal in scripophily.

References

• "Nolo's Plain-English Law Dictionary, First Edition"; Gerald Hill; 2009
• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Stock and Bond Certificates, Old
• Washington State Department of Financial Institutions: Old Stock Certificates
• Enoch Pratt Free Library: What to Do with an Old Stock Certificate

Resources

• Goldsheet Mining Directory: Scripophily and Obsolete Securities