Expert: Steven Taylor - 3/24/2009

Question
This may be a foolish question, but I know nothing about stocks (old or otherwise).

I have some old (1950's) stock certificates from my Grandmother, I have been told that they have been sold and the certificates are just a "souvenir" so to speak. How can I tell if a stock have been sold or not? On the back, where it says "transfer", everything is blank.

Thanks

Answer
Shannon, this is not a foolish question at all. The problem with stock certificates is that they are not bearer instruments, such as cash. Having a certificate does not mean the person has ownership of such a certificate, even if the transfer section on the back is blank. The official ownership rolls of a corporation are held by the transfer agent. Old certificates can be declared "lost" and replaced, or a company could be acquired by another company and not necessarily require the submission of the old certificates to receive the new ones.

Having said all of that, the fact that you have several old certificates in that condition does raise some real questions. I, like you, find it curious that so many certificates could have been "sold" without being submitted to the agent for cancellation. The scenarios I described above are rare, and it would be unlikely for several certificates owned by one person.

The only way to determine if these certificates have value is to consult with each company's transfer agent. However, because of the great age of these certificates, there is a good chance the agents are no longer in business. The companies may have gone out of business, or changed names. I think your best approach is to contact a broker who can help you run down the companies and find any current transfer agents. They can then assist you in contacting the current agents and determine if the certificates have any current value.