Expert: Steven Taylor - 9/29/2009

Question
QUESTION: I found a certificate of 120 shares of Alchib Developments dates Sept 1969 in my fathers papers.  I believe Alchib changed after time to Cercal Minerals Corp but that was delisted.  How can I find the value?  Thank you

ANSWER: Helen, you are correct. Alchib did eventually become Cercal, but in between there were several other name changes and 2 reverse splits - a 1 for 3, then a 1 for 10. So, your father's 120 Alchib would have been just 4 shares of Cercal. Cercal was suspended and delisted for financial reasons, and I don't believe it was ever returned to trading which strongly suggests the shares are worthless.

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QUESTION: Would the company ever come back or is it reasonable to shred the certificate?   thank you

Answer
It is highly unlikely that the company will return at this point in time. Some companies do come back, but it is usually within the first couple of years. Also, even if you do shred the certificate and the company does come back, you don't need the certificate to have ownership. You could declare it lost, post the lost certificate bond (usually 2% of the current value) and have a new certificate issued.