Expert: Steven Taylor - 1/8/2010

Question
Hello Experts,
Recently my 96 year old Mother asked me to inquire about some stocks that she purchased many years ago, to see if they had any value today.
She is holding 100 shares of Crown Trust Co. purchased on July 20 1977 [ may be 1971, the stamp is smudged ]and 100 shares of Laroma Midlothian Mines Ltd. purchased on Sept. 14 1944.
Any information you can supply would be most appreciated and go a long way to bringing her some peace of mind as she has become somewhat obsessed with knowing the details of these early investments.
Thank you so much in advance,
David Andrews

Answer
David, please check the first certificate again. Crown Trust was a transfer agent and acted as agent for hundreds of companies, which is why its name appears on other company's certificates. Crown Trust itself went bust in the 1980's.

From the information I have available, Laroma has no value - it had its charter cancelled in 1977.