Expert: Steven Taylor - 7/26/2009

Question
Upon my father's death I became owner of several Canadian stock certificates, all rather old, and hoping you can help in determining if they are worth anything: Jilbie Mining Co, 1957, The Toronto General Trusts Corp; Venture Properties Lmtd, 1974, Guaranty Trust Co of Canada; Canhart Mines Ltd, 1961, Toronto Gen Trusts Corp; Conro Develmt Corp Ltd, 1955, Crown Trust Co Toronto; Consolidated Durham Mines & Resrcs Ltd, Guaranty Trust; Consolidated Canadian Faraday Ltd, 1967, Guaranty Trust; Westwind Explorations Ltd, 1960, Guaranty Trust;Strathcona Mines Ltd, 1960 Toronto Gen Trusts Corp; Native Minerals Ltd, 1960, Security Trust Co Calgary. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Answer
Susan, from the information I have available, this is what I found:

for Jilbie, I have no information except that I see it made the US SEC's Canadian Restricted List twice. That list is for Canadian companies that sell their shares to US citizens without having an SEC Registration. That is illegal, and good, honest companies don't do that. Although I don't know what happened to Jilbie, I have yet to see a Restricted List company ever subsequently have any significant value, as companies that perform illegal acts are usually short-term pump and dump stocks and don't have real operations. Real companies obtain a valid SEC registration before promoting the stock and selling shares to Americans.

Venture Properties went through a 1 for 10 reverse stock split and became Buckingham International Holdings. Buckingham was cease-traded by the Province of Alberta in 1993, and that order remains in effect, which suggests there is no current market for the stock.

Canhart was dissolved in 1980, and it does not appear there was any value for common shareholders.

Conro was dissolved in 1973, and it does not appear there was any value for common shareholders.

Durham went through several large reverse splits and became Landmark Global Financial. Landmark currently trades on the TSX for $0.005 per share.

Consolidated Faraday merged with Conwest Exploration on the basis of 0.42 Conwest for each share of Faraday. Conwest was then acquired by Alberta Energy for 1.25 Alberta Energy shares per share of Conwest OR $28 cash per share OR a combination thereof (if you do not make an election, they usually automatically give you the shares. Alberta Energy became Encana on the basis of 1.472 Encana for each share of Alberta Energy. Encana trades on the NYSE for about $54 per share.

Westwind had its charter cancelled - no value for shareholders

Strathcona was dissolved in 1966. It appears there was no value for shareholers.

Native was dissolved in 1976. It appears there was no value for shareholders.

For the Encana, you need to contact their Transfer Agent, CIBC Mellon (www.cibcmellon#. They can tell you if the certificate is valid and, if so, can reorganize it into the Encana shares. Note Encana also pays dividends, so you would be due those as well.

Landmark's transfer agent is Equity Transfer #www.equitytransfer) if you would like to contact them regarding the Durham shares.

You can also contact a broker to confirm the above information and perhaps perform a more detailed search for the 2 I was not able to determine the current status.