Expert: Steven Taylor - 7/19/2009

Question
I have found a Stock Certificate #5718 for 7 shares of Bison Petroleum & Mineral Ltd.; Guaranty Trust Company of Canada; issued to my late father on December 16th 1960. Can I find out if these shares have any value?

Answer
John, there might be some minor value to the shares, but probably not much.

Back in 1970, the Company acquired a brewery in Newfoundland and operated that for a few years. They then re-entered the oil and gas business. In 1987, the Company changed its name to United Bison and did a 1 for 100 reverse stock split immediately followed by a 100 for 1 forward split. The reason for the two splits was they had a lot of shareholder with under 100 shares, and it seems that would appear to include your father. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume his shares would have been taken out in the 1987 splits. He might have received a check for the shares at that time. Or, if not, the money would likely have been turned over to the State or Province which was the last known address of his residence. You can search most states and some provinces' lost property databases for free at www.missingmoney.com and www.naupa.org (I give both addresses, as each contains different states).