Expert: Steven Taylor - 5/28/2011

Question
My great aunt has a stock certificate for 100 shares of Aiken-Russet Red Lake Mines limited. It was issued to my great uncle in 1966. According to a previous answer you gave someone the company changed to Canhorn Chemical which was suspended and delisted in 2000. So is this certificate any good or is it possible to be cashed out at all? My great uncle died years ago so he can't sign it but I suppose my great aunt could.

Answer
Suzanne, Aiken-Russet did a 1 for 35 reverse split and became Canhorn, which would have reduced your Uncle's shares to just 2 Canhorn. Canhorn was suspended and delisted, but years later was revived as Nayarit. That would make your Uncle's share equal to two Nayarit. Unfortunately, Nayarit was acquired last year by Capital Gold on the basis of .13 of a Capital Gold share for each Nayarit share. Since that would equal less than 1 share of Capital Gold, they likely would have issued a check for a nominal amount - probably around $1. Capital Gold is also now gone, having merged with another company last month.

You can check the missing property departments of each State or Province in which your Great Uncle lived from the date he acquired the certificate until the merger last year. You can search many of them online for free at www.missingmoney.com and www.naupa.org. Use your Uncle's name exactly as it appears on the certificate.