-
When Enron
went into bankruptcy,
its stock and debt were
viewed as pretty much
worthless. Now, seven
years after one of the
most memorable corporate
failures in history, a
9-1/2% bond from the
defunct energy company
has an offer price of
nearly $300.
Chances are the folks
who will buy the bond
issued in 1988 with
Ken Lay's
signature are not
distressed debt
investors but hobbyists
who enjoy collecting
paper bond and stock
certificates, a pastime
known as scripophily.
For many, the bond
and stock certificates'
allure is the
intersection of finance,
history and art. Many of
the companies are
famous, either for their
success or their
spectacular failures.
The certificates offer
ornate artwork
celebrating some aspect
of a business.
Pennsylvania Railroad
certificates show off
the railroad's Horse
Shoe Curve, tracks
running through
Pennsylvania's mountains
near Altoona. The
New York Central
illustrated its bonds
and stocks with ornate
illustration of its
founder,
Cornelius Vanderbilt,
and Grand Central
Terminal.
Many railroads issued
debt to finance their
race across the American
continent, so their
certificates illustrate
fanciful scenes of the
American West with
Indians and covered
wagons, as well as rough
wilderness. On
Oklahoma Oil Corp.
stock signed by
J. Paul Getty
from the 1920s, you will
find an ornamental
border which
incorporates scenes of
oil derricks, oil tanks
for storage and oil rail
cars. Early
Playboy Enterprises
common stock features
the profile of its
trademark bunny and a
nude of a woman.
"People collect them
for the artwork, the
historical significance
of the company, and some
people collect because
they have family in the
company or use the
company's products" says
Robert Kerstein
(Bob.com),
who runs
Scripophily.com,
a Web site dedicated to
bond and stock
certificates. The
certificates are given
as retirement presents,
collected, and used to
add spice to offices.
Buyers have included
collectors from the UK,
Spain and Russia, says
Kerstein.
In his history of the
pastime entitled
"Scripophily: The Art of
Finance," Keith
Hollender
estimates that there are
some 100,000 collectors,
200 dealers and 20 to 30
auction houses involved
with bond and stock
certificates.
"It makes the history
come alive. When you
read about these things
in a textbook it is
different from holding a
piece of paper," says
John Herzog,
co-founder of
Herzog Heine Geduld,
a leading Nasdaq market
maker that was sold to
Merrill Lynch
in 2000. "This gives you
a way to touch different
events in American
history."
Herzog, founder of
the Museum of
American Finance
in lower Manhattan,
where pieces of his bond
and stock collection are
exhibited, is an active
proponent of
scripophily....
"It's a combination
of the history and the
beauty of the
documents," says
Phillip Kass,
an Encino, Calif.-based
accountant and attorney
who collects bond and
stock certificates. In
his office you will find
his prized piece: a 1945
bond issued by "The
Government of Palestine"
with writing in Hebrew,
English and Arabic.
Some of these
Jewish Colonial Trust
issues are popular as
bar mitzvah gifts, says
Kass.
Kerstein, who was a
CFO of a number of
companies including
Falcon Cable TV
in California,
Los Angeles Cellular
and McCaw
Cellular, was
smitten by stocks and
bonds in the 1990s when
he went to a Civil War
memorabilia convention.
He purchased a bond
issued by the
Confederate States with
an image of
Stonewall Jackson
and then started
collecting civil war
scrip, eventually moving
on to stock
certificates.
In 1995, Kerstein was
involved with building a
net presence for
Orca Bay Sports and
Entertainment,
owners of the Vancouver
Grizzlies and the
Vancouver Canucks. He
set up the first NHL and
NBA team Web sites and
that experience of
working on the Internet
prompted him to open up
a Web site devoted to
historic bond and stock
certificates.
When it comes to paper
issued by Enron, "we
sold Enron certificates
to short sellers. They
made so much money, they
wanted to keep a
certificate," says
Kerstein. "Some people
who lost money wanted a
certificate. A 'Wall
Street diploma' is what
we call it."
Some of the
certificates are prized
not just because of the
history of the issuing
companies, but also
because of the
signatures on the bonds.
For example, a
Standard Oil Trust
stock certificate with a
signature by
John D. Rockefeller
will sell for $3,000.
Some Standard
Oil Co.
certificates have been
sold for as much as
$8,000 because the oil
company preceded the
trust as an issuing
entity and some of these
issues are among the
earliest sold by
Standard Oil.
One of those owners
of the Standard Oil
scrip with Rockefeller's
signature is
Malcolm Epstein,
a stock broker with
Smith Moore &
Co. in
Jefferson City, Mo.
The bonds in his
collection, Epstein
says, "are ornate and I
see no reason they
should not be considered
art."
Indeed, the
certificates themselves
are of high quality
paper with engravings,
some of them created by
cutting into copper or
steel. The manufacturers
of many of these
certificates were often
companies that printed
bank notes and postage
stamps, Hollender says
in his history of the
hobby.
Outside of the US,
certificates from the
late 1920s offer touches
of Art Deco style while
earlier pieces have Art
Nouveau-inspired
ornamentation.
Another big seller in
recent years has been
scrip from
Buckeye Steele Castings
which features a
signature from President
George Bush's
great-grandfather,
Samuel Prescott
Bush. Demand
for these rose when
President Bush was
elected, and shortly
after the 9-11 attacks.
Now, though, demand for
these particular issues
has waned because either
Bush presidency is soon
to end or because of a
decline in his
popularity, according to
Kerstein. ...
Collectors do not
only value scrip issued
by US companies; Russian
railway bonds -- issued
in the days of the Czars
-- and Chinese railway
bonds issued prior to
the birth of Communist
China are also popular.
The story of the
Russian Czarist-era debt
is an interesting one.
At the time of the
Russian Revolution in
1917, well over one
billion pounds sterling
worth of Russian debt
was outstanding, but the
newly created communist
state refused to honor
the debt. In 1986,
Britain and the former
Soviet Union announced a
settlement for bond
holders who were not
paid after the fall of
the Czar. The agreement
between Britain and the
former Soviet Union used
money that belonged to
the Russian Imperial
family and had been
frozen in Britain in
1917.
Also popular with
collectors are issues
from World War II-era
Germany and Japan,
according to Kerstein.
Some Japanese World War
II-era certificates have
illustrations of
warplanes and ships.
Some issues are even
stamped with a note
commemorating Japan's
attack on Pearl Harbor
in December 1941.
World War I Liberty
bonds are popular, as
are World War II savings
bonds. Interestingly,
those savings bonds are
worth more if they are
cashed in because they
collected interest even
after World War II.
"World War II Series
E savings bonds are
worth two or three times
face value as a
collectible, but if
redeemed they are worth
four or five times face
value," says Kerstein.
The face value of these
Liberty Savings bonds
range from $25 to
$1,000. The higher the
denomination the scarcer
the bond.
The phrase
scripophily came into
being after a 1978
Financial Times
contest aimed to come up
with a term for the love
of collecting bonds and
stock certificates.
"Scrip" is the ownership
of stock and "opholy" is
a derivative of the
Greek term of love --
philos.
Enron shares are not the
only scrip in demand for
a company or business
that fails dramatically.
Kerstein says he has
sold South Sea
Co. transfer
certificates and there
have even been issues
from Keely Motor
Co., a business
set up to create a
fictitious perpetual
motion machine powered
by water in the 1880s.
For those investors
who think getting a
price on a bond is tough
in these market
conditions, they ought
to consider how
collectors track the
value of certain scrip
years after it was
issued.
Some of these
collectors have traced
the value of Confederate
bonds backed by bails of
cotton in 1863. This
debt initially sold at
90 cents, or 90% of par
value, but after the
Battle of Vicksburg, the
Mississippi River's
traffic was disrupted
and an important route
for Southern cotton was
disrupted. As a result,
Confederate debt backed
by cotton fell to 15
cents on the dollar.
It is the kind of
event risk that has been
seen on more than one
Wall Street emerging
markets trading desk in
the last two decades.
Collectors of scrip,
meanwhile, may soon be
able to squeeze the
market for collectible
stocks and bonds. These
days, issuance of bonds
or stocks in their
traditional format has
dropped as more
securities are issued
electronically.
While stock and bond
collectors typically
focus on old issuers,
Kerstein says the
subprime crisis and all
the attention it has
gotten have prompted
inquiries about scrip
from mortgage lenders
that have gone bust.
"I wish I had stock
of companies involved in
subprime, but they don't
have them."
Bad
Market, Good Crowds
Maybe it's a way to
piece together what is
happening to their 401K
plans or private stock
portfolios but, believe
it or not, bad news
about the financial
markets usually brings
in more visitors to the
Museum of American
Finance.
"We always did better
during market downturns
in terms of the number
of visitors," says
Kristin Aguilera,
a spokeswoman for the
museum, which is located
in lower Manhattan on
Wall Street.
-
LiveMint.com - Wall Street Journal - Money Matters
Tue, Dec 18 2007
Holders hit
jackpot as cancelled old shares find online platform -
Scripophily is the collection of old bond and share certificates
as a pursuit or hobby
-
November 27, 2007 - Forget neckties and
fruitcakes: This holiday, give a
historic gift!
Vintage stock and bond certificates from
Scripophily.com are a
unique gift idea that the recipient will never forget
These original, authentic artifacts of business and political
history may date back to the 19th century and are beautifully
engraved, with wonderful vignettes (decorative pictures) and
ideal for framing. They may represent shares of company stock or
funds raised to support public projects, social causes – even
war efforts. Older certificates are usually hand signed,
sometimes by famous personalities.
Bob
Kerstein, a former communications executive and now CEO of
Scripophily.com, became interested in antique “scrip” – stock
and other financial certificates – after seeing Confederate
bonds at a Civil War show. He noted that Gilded Age
entrepreneurs traveled the country by rail or stagecoach,
hawking beautiful, ornately engraved stock certificates in order
to raise funds for their corporate ventures.
-
Tacoma News Tribune - September 21, 2007 - Bob
Kerstein is a history detective specifically business history, a
collecting area that most people don't think about. A former
executive at McCaw Cellular in Seattle and now based in
Washington, D.C., Kerstein is the CEO of Scripophily.com, a
company that sells vintage stock certificates and bonds each of
which has a story. Check out the vignette (the decorative
picture)from a First National Bank of Seattle certificate, seen
below: It dates from 1884 and is signed by the bank's president,
George W. Harris. Not only does the certificate date from
territorial days, but the bank would become Seafirst Bank, which
would in turn become Bank of America. What's more, Harriswas a
founder of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. So it ties in a lot
of pieces of history over time, Kerstein pointed out...
-
July 31, 2007 - Morgan Stanley - Important Notice Regarding
Issuance of Paper Stock Certificates
-
Here are resources
for tracing old
insurance policies
and other financial
assets of your
deceased loved one:
Texas Department of
Insurance: Its
database will tell
you the status of an
insurance company,
how many times it
was acquired, when
it changed its name
and its current
structure. You’ll
also be able to get
contact information
for the company.
You may also
obtain the
information by
calling the
department’s
consumer help line
at 800-252-3439.
MIB Solutions Inc.:
which has a policy
locator service for
$75 per search. The
company will tell
you the name and
contact information
of the insurance
company or companies
to which your loved
one applied for
coverage.
MIB information
will also have
details about merged
or purchased
insurance companies
so you can identify
and contact the
successor to the
original insurance
company.
Texas Department of
Banking: If
you’re searching for
old bank accounts,
the Texas Department
of Banking will tell
you a bank’s
history, whether
it’s still operating
or has changed its
name.
You may also call
Phyllis Teeple at
512-475-1338 for the
information.
Texas Comptroller:
An overall good
place to search for
unknown financial
assets is the Texas
comptroller’s
unclaimed property
program.
These services
will conduct
searches of old
stock certificates:
Scripophily.com
will research old
stock certificates
for $39.95 per
company. Scripophily
is the hobby of
collecting old stock
and bond
certificates. (See
OldCompany.com)
R. M. Smythe &
Co.: It charges $100
for each company
search (For the Same
Service as
Scripophily.com)
-
March 11, 2007 Press-Register Sunday, Get your
stocks into an account by K.A. Turner
People in Wilcox County knew Olivia Martin. In
fact, said her son Ralph, a string of
politicians and community leaders could have
easily tied that name back to a "true Southern
lady" who had been in Camden for most of her
life.
But none of that has made it easier for Ralph
and his family to put his late mother's stock
portfolio in order.
"I don't want people to have to go through
what we did," Martin said recently. "If we had
just taken her down to the brokerage house ..."
Kimberly Clark, Vanity Fair, Bristol-Myers and
Olin were among the familiar names on
certificates the family found. Others, such as
Allegheny Beverage, were more obscure.
Martin said he has needed death certificates,
letters of testamentary and time to convert even
the most familiar of issues. For the obscure
ones, he looked to the Web.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's site
(http://edgar.sec.gov/answers/oldcer.htm) offers
five different options for researching older
certificates. Most of the services are
fee-based, and the SEC says it "cannot recommend
or endorse any of these entities, their
personnel, or their products or services."
No. 1 on the list is
http://Scripophily.com, the brainchild of
Bob Kerstein, a CPA who logged more than 20
years in financial management of both public and
private companies before developing Scripophily
and its sister firm, Old Company Research.
" We probably get about 20 calls a day," from
people who find themselves in situations like
Martin's, Kerstein said recently.
The first task, he said, is to determine
whether a certificate has redeemable value, or
can be turned in to the company or a successor
company for cash or updated shares.
"You generally find the companies have gone
away and the certificates are not redeemable,"
Kerstein said. "You've still probably got better
odds with those than the lottery, but the fact
they're sitting in the house probably means
somebody made a bad investment."
Even if not redeemable, the
certificates could have
value to collectors.
Typically, he said, that
value is based "on demand,
supply to some degree, and
how it looks, its historical
significance and the
signatures on the
certificate.
While a stock certificate
for Pan American Airlines
might be worth $5 or $10, a
Standard Oil Trust
certificate signed by John
D. Rockefeller could be
worth $3,000 to $4,000, he
said.
What's the one he'd find
most valuable? The first
certificate from a company
called Wright Aeronautical,
founded by a couple of
brothers who spent some time
in Kitty Hawk, N.C. What's
his current favorite? A
certificate from Shadyside
Operators Inc. that is dated
Oct. 29, 1929, the day of
the market's most historic
crash.
-
TheStreet.com - Taking Stock
- By Stanley Greenberg
11/27/2006 9:53 AM EST
Numismatists collect coins. Philatelists deal in
stamps.
So what do you call somebody who has a passion for
acquiring old stocks and bonds?
Try scripophilists.
Scripophily, pronounced "scrip-af-il-ly," picked
up steam as a serious collecting pursuit in the mid-1970s.
Today there are thousands of collectors worldwide in search of
scarce, rare and popular stocks and bonds.
The word itself is a combination of English -- "scrip" represents an
ownership right -- and Greek -- "philos" means to love.
One person in particular who loves to chase down old securities is
Bob Kerstein, founder of Scripophily.com.
An accountant by trade, Kerstein turned his back on the corporate
world in the mid-1990s to launch Scripophily, in order to turn his
hobby into what is now the leading Web site for stock collectors.
"Over the years, there have been millions of companies which needed
to raise money to get their businesses started," says the
Virginia-based Kerstein. "Each company had their own story as to how
they did it. These certificates give us a piece of that story."
A Good Time to Buy Enron Stock
Not every corporate story ends happily.
But just because a stock loses all its value on the open market does
not mean that it's not worth anything.
According to Kerstein, some of his biggest sellers are stock
certificates of failed dot-com companies, as well as huge financial
frauds like Enron, the second-largest business failure in American
history.
Scripophily offers a number of Enron stocks, including a rare
engraved certificate from 1989 signed by its late CEO Kenneth Lay
for $375.
The document has an ornate border around it with a vignette of a man
and the company logo.
An Enron Stock Certificate
However, this particular stock does not have the telltale crooked
"E," as it was issued before Enron switched to its now infamous
logo.
And it's not just stocks.
Scripophilists search for many variations of equity and debt
instruments such as preferred stocks, warrants, cumulative
preferred, bonds, zero coupon bonds and long-term bonds.
And like classic baseball cards or antique stamps, there are many
factors that determine the value of an antique financial document
including condition, age, historical significance, rarity and the
type of engraving process.
Signatures are also very important in assessing the value of a
document, which is why Scripophily is also a popular arena for
autograph collectors....
-
Thursday November 16, 2006 -
Art and Scarcity of Old
Stock and Bond Certificates from Scripophily.com
Make Unique Gifts for the Holiday Season
Delaware Law and Stock
Exchange Rules Add to Collector Supply Shortage
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Scripophily.com
®, the Internet's largest buyer and seller
of collectible stock and bond certificates,
has seen a 31% increase in sales during the
past 12 months ending October 31, 2006
compared the prior year. The increase in
activity is primarily due to interest in the
historical significance and beauty of stock
and bond certificates as well as their
relative scarcity according to
Scripophily.com's CEO and Founder, Bob
Kerstein. "Physical stock and bond
certificates are a permanent history of
capitalism representing a cross section of
the financial markets we know today. Stock
certificates are becoming an artifact of the
past as the world becomes more digitized."
ertificates are collected and
given as gifts because of their
historical significance, beauty
and artwork, autographs,
notoriety, as well as many other
factors. Certificates signed by
John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan
and George Bush's Great
Grandfather, Samuel Prescott
Bush are especially popular this
year.
The supply of new
certificates reaching the
collector market has been
substantially reduced due to
recent changes in State Laws and
Stock Exchanges Rules. Many
companies are no longer required
to issue physical stock and bond
certificates
Scripophily (scrip-ah-fil-ly) is
the hobby's name of collecting
old stock and bond certificates.
Values range from a few dollars
to more than $100,000 for the
rarest. Tens of thousands of
Scripophily buyers worldwide
include casual collectors,
corporate archives, museums and
serious collectors.
Scripophily.com - The Gift of
History is the Internet's
leading buyer and seller of
collectible stock and bond
certificates and has had items
on loan for display in the
Smithsonian's Museum of
Financial History in New York,
been featured on CNBC, USA
Today, Baltimore Sun, Washington
Post and in many other media
publications. The company also
offers an old stock research
service at OldCompany.com and
also offers high resolution
scans for publications.
Scripophily.com has over 12,000
different selections including
categories such as Frauds,
Scandals, Bankruptcies, Dot Coms,
as well as the more traditional
areas such as Railroads,
Telephone, Entertainment,
Sports, Manufacturing, Mining,
Utilities, Oil and Gas, Retail,
Tobacco, Food, Banks, Insurance
and others.
Scripophily.com was founded
by Bob Kerstein who has more
than 25 years of senior
management experience in the
Cellular, Cable TV, Satellite,
Internet, Professional Sports
and Entertainment Industries.
Bob is also the President of the
Professional Scripophily Traders
Association (PSTA).
For more information on
Scripophily.com®, visit
www.scripophily.com,
http://www.bob.com or call
1-703-579-4209.
-
Ask TheStreet: All
About Scripophily by Gregg Greenberg by TheStreet.com Staff
Reporter 9/21/2006 3:35 PM EDT
Do companies still issue stock certificates? I rarely hear about
them anymore. Thanks, J.B.
Don't worry, it's not your hearing that's the problem. It's
just that stock certificates are quickly becoming a thing of the
past, and soon will only be found hanging in people's offices.
As a result of legislation designed to foster corporate
cost-cutting, only a handful of the 50 U.S. states still require
public companies to issue physical certificates. Stock brokerage
firms and many of the issuing companies enthusiastically support
this effort, which is known as "dematerialization."
The move toward dematerialization seems to be just fine with
most investors, who would rather use book-entry stock ownership,
where the issuers record all details of ownership
electronically. It is more convenient than locking stock
certificates away in safe-deposit boxes.
According to the Securities Industry Association, book-entry
ownership can be accomplished by having the securities held in
the investor's account at the broker-dealer, a method known as
putting it in "street name." Another alternative is the use of
the Direct Registration System, where investors can have their
positions electronically recorded by the issuer or at their
transfer agent.
AT&T (T) became the first company in the United States to do
away with paper certificates. Investors now receive a
computer-generated report showing them how many shares they have
outstanding.
For the few investors who still prefer holding their shares in
physical form, it can be a very expensive proposition, says
Bob Kerstein,
founder of Scripophily.com.
Scripophily is the hobby of collecting stock and bond
certificates.
To go through a stock broker, says Kerstein, you will have to
pay the trading price of the stock, plus the commission the
broker charges, plus a stock-issuance fee. Depending on whom you
use as a stock broker, the commissions can be anywhere from $15
to $50, and the stock-issuance fee can be anywhere from $50 to
$100 per certificate.
"Due to the high cost of processing, risk of loss of
certificates, handling costs, so on, it is clear the trend is
toward the elimination of the paper stock certificate," says
Kerstein.
That is certainly helping Kerstein's business. While the
supply of new certificates reaching the collector market is
dwindling, the hobby of scripophily continues to grow.
"Over the years, there have been millions of companies which
needed to raise money for their businesses," says Kerstein. "And
each company had their own story as to how they did it. These
certificates give us a piece of that story."
Like classic baseball cards or antique stamps, there are many
factors that determine the value of a stock certificate,
including condition, age, historical significance, signatures,
rarity and the type of engraving process.
Despite the move toward electronic ownership, one company that
may continue printing stock certificates is Disney (DIS)
. The Disney stock certificate features Walt Disney himself
surrounded by his classic characters, and is a popular gift for
collectors and noncollectors alike.
-
Smart Money: September 10, 2006
-
Dear Bruce: I
have read your columns for years. I followed
you on the radio. I have some old stocks
from the 1940s and would like to know if
they have any value? -- W.S., Lexington, Ky.
Dear W.S.: There are any
number of companies that will be happy,
usually for a modest fee, to search your
stock certificates and see if they have any
value. If you have access to a computer, you
can search out companies that will research
old stocks for you. Some of them charge a
fee, and others are free. Two we found at
the Securities and Exchange Commission's Web
site: Financial Stock Guide Services, (800)
367-3441, and Scripophily, at (888)
786-2576.
-
 Money
Magazine - September 2006 - The Answer Guy -
BY GEORGE MANNS
Question - My mother-in-law has a 1957 stock certificate for
10 shares of a company called Town & Country Securities and a 1970
notice that the name had changed to Kingsford Industries. I
can't find this company. How do I learn what the stock Is worth?—Don
Clement, Virginia Beach
Answer - Finding a forgotten stock certificate can be; nice
little thrill: Until you can get a firm answer, the value of the
shares is limited only by your imagination. Hmm, you wonder, wasn't
this the company that renamed itself Google in the late '9os? (We'll
get to your reality in a moment.)
The first stop on this kind of treasure hunt your brokerage account.
Brokers will commonly do the detective work on old certificates free
of charge as a service for their clients. (Although many brokers use the services of
http://www.oldcompany.com
for their old stock research)
No brokerage account? Take a look at the website
http://www.oldcompany.com.
Run by http://www.scripophily.com a firm that also sells collectible
stock certificates, the site charges $39.95 to trace the fate of an
old stock or bond.
Unfortunately for your family's wealth, research from OldCompany.com
indicates that shares in Kingsford, which was out of business by the
early 1990s, are worthless. Ah, well. Easy come, easy go.
|
|
| eBay's Safe Payments Policy got a lot of attention in the
press last week when the auction site banned Google's new
checkout service. But an incident has at least one seller
wondering how closely the list of prohibited services was vetted
by eBay.
A screen shot of eBay's list of prohibited payment services
Bob Kerstein, CEO of Scripophily.com, said the past week "has
been hell" for his company, which was included in media reports
as being banned by eBay. "We're not a payment service," said
Kerstein, and feels the media attention has damaged his
company's reputation.
eBay added Scripophily.com on its list of banned online
payment services last week (http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html).
One blog published eBay's list of prohibited payment services
and said of them, "All of these services have been banned due to
being unsafe for eBay buyers, that they are in some way poorly
designed or secured and thus aid fraud" (http://digbig.com/4kxef).
Major news outlets covered news of eBay's policy updates because
of the ban on Google Checkout, widely seen as a competitor to
eBay's own PayPal service.
Kerstein said, "Our company, Scripophily.com, buys and sells
collectible stock and bond certificates and I have no idea why
eBay listed our company here. If we sell something on eBay, we
accept credit cards over the phone, checks, Paypal and credit
cards on our website, that's it."
He said he spent a week trying to get a response from someone
at eBay. On July 10, he said Sarah Brubaker, calling herself a
senior policy representative of eBay, contacted him and told him
Scripophily.com was on the list because "one eBay member said
they use the Scripophily.com checkout system" in his or her
listing, Kerstein said. Brubaker promised to take his company
off the list, he said, but it was still up on Tuesday evening.
"Why in the world eBay listed us here is beyond me," Kerstein
said. "EBay never notified us about any of this." Kerstein's
company has been an eBay member since January 1998 and has 4133
feedback points with a 99.9 percent positive feedback rating.
Scipophily.com also operates an eBay Store. Feedback from
trading partners include such comments as, "Honest description,
Sturdy Package, Speedy Delivery" and "Item as described. Smooth
transaction. A+++++."
Kerstein said he wonders what kind of due diligence eBay
performed with the companies on its list of prohibited services.
He said, "It certainly looks like they just added other
companies to the list so Google wouldn't look like they were
being singled out."
What's most upsetting to Kerstein, who once sold a stock
certificate to eBay CEO Meg Whitman, is that he "didn't even get
an apology" from eBay.
eBay spokesperson Catherine England explained why the company
included Scripophily.com on the prohibited list in an email
statement. "Apparently a few sellers had listed Scripophily as a
payment method in listings in the past so they were initially
included on the list of prohibited payment methods in an effort
to provide as much clarity as possible for the community.
"However, since Scripophily itself makes no attempt to be a
payment service, we've determined that it wasn't appropriate for
them to be listed as one and they will be removed from the list
- since the change is global it may take a few days for it to go
live to the site but they should be removed within the week."
When asked what kind of vetting eBay does before adding a
service to the policy's accepted or prohibited list, England
responded by providing the list of factors included on eBay's
policy, adding, "The combination of factors considered for any
one payment service may vary as the range of services offered by
different payment providers also varies widely."
Meanwhile, The Register reports that eBay's rollout of the
Safe Payments Policy in the UK on Monday has caused major
concern among sellers after the auction site banned Nochex (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/11/ebay_nochex_fallout/).
Sellers discussed the new policy on several threads on the
Discussion boards, including this one (http://forums.ebay.co.uk/thread.jspa?threadID=1100012120).
The list of "payment services" prohibited on eBay UK also
includes Scripophily.com (http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html).
|
-
By James Maguire July 7, 2006 -
It wasn't good news for eBay when Google recently launched its Google
Checkout service. Google's new online payment system doesn't compete
directly with eBay's Paypal. But who wants to take on Google at all?
So it's no surprise that eBay amended its rules this week to ban
sellers from using Google Checkout. You can see Google listed in the
"not permitted" list in
eBay's Accepted Payments Policy by clicking on "Some Examples."
It's a little humorous to see the awesome Google listed in the banned
providers list along with the likes of payingfast.com, eHotPay.com,
EuroGiro, and scripophily.com. (According to Bob Kerstein
"The joke of this is that Scripophily.com doesn't even
have a public checkout system.
Scripophily.com, buys and sells collectible stock and bond certificates
and have no idea why eBay listed our company here. If we sell something
on eBay, we accept credit cards over the phone, checks, Paypal and
credit cards on our website, that's it. Why in the world eBay listed us
here is beyond me.
-
Preserving history, one piece at a
time By Ashley
McKnight-Taylor Thursday, June 29, 2006 5:44 PM CDT
- ....According to www.scripophily.net, scripophily is the
collecting of canceled old stocks and bonds. It is a hobby that gained
recognition in the mid-1970s.
A brief Internet search yielded an abundance of information and Web
sites on the hobby. There is even a Professional Scripophily Trade
Association, which “is a group of dealers organized to promote the study
and collection of antique stocks and bonds for collectors and
researchers, and for the interpretation and preservation of financial
history,” according to www.scripophilynews.com....
-
Chicago Tribune
Andrew
Leckey, a Tribune Media Services columnist
- June 7, 2006
Q. I have some old stock certificates of
mining companies. How do I determine if they have any value?
--D.T., via the Internet
A....Over the years I've heard from owners of hundreds of mining stock
certificates discovered in desks and attics...
To research a company, start on the Internet to see if you can find out
what happened to it. Next, contact the transfer agent on the back of the
certificate, if it still exists. Check with the secretary of state's
office in the state in which the firm was incorporated.
Books available in public libraries, such as "Moody's Industrial
Manual," could help.
If you're willing to pay a fee of $39.95 per company,
Scripophily (or
Old Company) - 888-786-2576
will research your certificate to see if it has any value. If it fails
to uncover what happened to the company, it won't charge you. If it
likes your certificate as a collectible, it may offer to buy it.
-
THE
BOND BUYER - N.Y., N.Y. THE DAILY NEWSPAPER OF PUBLIC FINANCE Friday,
March 24,2006
Scripophily: Old Paper Finds New Fans - Call it Antiquing For the Muni
Set....
In 1990, Bob Kerstein was the chief financial officer of the cellular
division of a large wireless telecommunications company when he attended
a Civil War trade show and took note of some bonds issued by the
Confederacy. "I remember going to that show and saying to myself what a
worthless piece of paper," said Kerstein, who lives in northern
Virginia. "But then I looked at it again and said what a neat worthless
piece of paper. "It is kind of scary when you see it in writing and you
go: Wow, there really was a Civil War, and they really did have to raise
money, and that forces you to dig into it and find out what it was all
about," Kerstein said. "I just got hooked from there."
Today, Kerstein owns what he says has become the largest Web-based an-tique
stock and bond selling business.
After AT&T purchased the cell phone company he worked for in 1994,
Kerstein became chief information officer for Vancouver, B.C.'s
professional hockey and basketball teams, helping them to become the
first in their respective leagues to launch sites on the Internet. In
1996, he purchased the domain name scripophily.com. Kerstein said his experience in Canada was
instrumental in helping him to create the Web site.
The advent of the Internet in recent years has made it much easier for
scripophilists looking for old securities to find them through Web sites
like his. While municipal bonds represent only a small portion of the
antique securities available to scripophilists, they attract quite a bit
of interest from buyers on the site, according to the 54-year old
Kerstein.
While there are plenty of people out there looking to buy antique
municipals, locating old certificates to keep his Chantilly, Va.-based
business stocked is a "labor of love," according to Kerstein. "I find
them every place imaginable," Kerstein said. "We find people going
through old archives, file cabinets, turning down homes and warehouses.
"People acquire old buildings and they find boxes in the back that have
old bonds in them and because we are so prevalent on the internet, the
people do a search for bond certificates and we come up," he added. "I
wish there was a wholesaler. It is a long laborious process buying stuff
— that is for sure."
Creating a system for authenticating the antique paper is another cause
to which Kerstein has dedicated much of his time. He currently serves as
the president of the Professional Scripophily Trade Association, which
is primarily a group of dealers organized to promote the study and
collection of antique stocks and bonds for collectors and researchers,
and for the interpretation and preservation of financial history. "We
want to give the customers a group of people who are trusted sellers of
the certificates so they are not buying duplicates (reproductions)"
Kerstein said.
Valuing antique municipals its another service that Kerstein offers his
clients. "Many times, companies come to us to see about what these are
worth," Kerstein said. "It is naturally based on previous sales,
historical significance, the artistic work on the bond," he added. "If
it is signed by somebody famous it adds value." Rarer bonds are often
more valuable as well, according to Kerstein. The average cost for
antique municipal paper is between $20 and $200, and some of the more
unique paper can range up to $1,000, he added. "It just depends on your
budget, the rarity of the certificate and what we pay for it."
"Many different types of people buy municipal bonds," he said. "They buy
them to decorate their offices. They buy them as gifts. They buy them
because of the historical significance of a particular area. "Sometimes
people buy them and donate them to the local museums ... and sometimes
their family name is on the certificate or they had a relative who is
affiliated with the bond's associated project," Kerstein added....
-
Forbes.com Inc - London 3/19/2006
- Windfalls. Is investing really just about the $$$? Perhaps not if your
definition of a shareholder is someone who procures their company stock
in a fetching choice of black lacquer or mahogany frames.
Scripophily, or the collection of old stock certificates, is all the
rage these days for collectors, I-love-business types, or anyone baffled
for a suitable gift idea. That means that as records become increasingly
digitized, online vendors are cashing in on companies whose stock has
that extra bit of shareholder value--you know, the sentimental kind.
Who else but Steve Jobs is the object of the latest fad. Collectors have
been hitting the Web to snap up stock certificates of Pixar (nasdaq:
PIXR - news - people ), the hugely successful computer animation firm
that the trendy chief executive and billionaire has sold to The Walt
Disney Company (nyse: DIS - news - people ).
The certificates, peppered with an array of characters including Toy
Story's Woody and Buzz Lightyear, are becoming increasingly covetable as
Pixar looms closer to complete absorption into the Disney fold.
Wondering how much an exclusive piece of Pixar could set you back?
Pixar's share price may be hovering around the $65 mark, but a single
framed stock certificate proffered by one online vendor costs a cool
$150--it does come with custom-engraved plaque, after all.
Other popular certificates include Harley-Davidson (nyse: HDI - news -
people ), Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people ), Coca-Cola (nyse: KO -
news - people ), Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ), Microsoft (nasdaq:
MSFT - news - people ), Apple Computer (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ),
and of course, Enron.
Pixar was popular even before its Disney deal was announced, but sellers
are using the imminent close of that sale to step up their sales
pitches. "Less than 60 days before Pixar stock vanishes!" one Web site
harks. More...
Pixar Animation Studios Inc.'s upcoming sale to Walt Disney Co. has
inspired an audience of investors more interested in buying a piece of
paper than a piece of the $7.4 billion deal....
Stock certificates used to be the standard way of denoting ownership in
a publicly held company, but that has changed dramatically during the
past decade as the securities industry has shifted to electronic
record-keeping to reduce costs.
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., which settles most U.S. stock
trades, now has just 3.4 million stock certificates in its vaults, down
from roughly 30 million in 1990.
Certificates are expected to become even more rare with the passage of a
new law last year in Delaware, where more than half of the nation's
publicly traded companies are incorporated because of the state's
favorable business rules. Delaware has dropped a requirement forcing all
companies to issue stock certificates, making the choice optional.
The rise of paperless record keeping is helping to popularize
scripophily - the collection of old stock and bond certificates.
Some of these collectors are strictly in it for the money, hoping to
come across something as valuable as vintage Standard Oil Co. stock
certificates issued in the 19th century.
Some of Standard Oil's 1873 certificates, signed by John D. Rockefeller,
have fetched anywhere from $8,500 to $130,000 apiece, said Bob Kerstein,
who runs Scripophily.com, which has become a magnet for collectors.
Other collectors are just looking for a memento that sums up a
particular era. That's one reason why the stock certificates of Enron
Corp. - an emblem of corporate scandal - were recently listed on
Scripophily for prices ranging from $49.95 to $375. Enron's stock
disintegrated in late 2001 when the company went bankrupt.
It also helps to have a flashy certificate. That factor seems to be
driving demand for eToys Inc., a relic of the dot-com boom that went
bankrupt in 2001. Its ornate certificate, featuring toys alongside its
red-and-blue logo, demands $125 to $250.
Even before the Disney sale, Pixar was among a handful of companies
whose stock certificates have been a perennial favorite.
Other high-demand stock certificates include Harley-Davidson Inc., Ford
Motor Co., Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc., Tiffany & Co., Coca-Cola Co.,
Starbucks Inc., Microsoft Inc. and Apple Computer Inc.
-
SAN
FRANCISCO
- Pixar
Animation Studios Inc.'s upcoming sale to Walt
Disney Co. has inspired an audience of investors
more interested in buying a piece of paper than
a piece of the $7.4 billion deal....Stock
certificates used to be the standard way of
denoting ownership in a publicly held company,
but that has changed dramatically during the
past decade as the securities industry has
shifted to electronic record-keeping to reduce
costs.
The Depository Trust &
Clearing Corp., which settles most U.S. stock
trades, now has just 3.4 million stock
certificates in its vaults, down from roughly 30
million in 1990. Certificates are expected to
become even more rare with the passage of a new
law last year in Delaware, where more than half
of the nation's publicly traded companies are
incorporated because of the state's favorable
business rules. Delaware has dropped a
requirement forcing all companies to issue stock
certificates, making the choice optional.
The rise of paperless record
keeping is helping to popularize
Scripophily
- the collection of old stock and bond
certificates.
Some of these collectors are
strictly in it for the money, hoping to come
across something as valuable as vintage Standard
Oil Co. stock certificates issued in the 19th
century.
Some of Standard Oil's 1873
certificates, signed by John D. Rockefeller,
have fetched anywhere from $8,500 to $130,000
apiece, said Bob Kerstein, who runs
Scripophily.com, which has become a magnet
for collectors.
Other collectors are just
looking for a memento that sums up a particular
era. That's one reason why the stock
certificates of Enron Corp. - an emblem of
corporate scandal - were recently listed on
Scripophily for prices ranging from $49.95 to
$375. Enron's stock disintegrated in late 2001
when the company went bankrupt.
- Sunday, March 19, 2006 - 1pm -
Scripophily.com's CEO, Bob
Kerstein was featured on
George Chamberlin NEWSRADIO 600 KOGO San Diego's EXCLUSIVE NewsTalk
Radio Station discussing the Hobby of Scripophily and Old Stock
Research Services at OldCompany.com
-
Yahoo News Service - Tuesday March 14, 8:00 - Scarcity of Old
Stock and Bond Certificates Contributes to Scripophily.com's Best Year
Ever
New Delaware Law Adds to Collector Supply Shortage
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2006--Scripophily.com®, the
Internet's largest buyer and seller of collectible stock and bond
certificates, has seen a 30% increase in sales and a 24% increase in
website traffic during the 12 months ending February 28, 2006 compared
the prior year. The increase in activity is primarily due to the
scarcity of certain certificates according to Scripophily.com's CEO and
Founder, Bob Kerstein. "Obtaining previously unseen stock certificates
is becoming harder and harder to accomplish," says Mr. Kerstein. "With
the change in the laws in Delaware and on major Stock Exchanges,
publicly traded companies are no longer required to issue physical stock
certificates, but simply keep track by ledger entries. This has made is
more difficult to obtain new certificates," Kerstein added.
ADVERTISEMENT
According to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, paper stock
certificates cost companies, investors, banks and brokers hundreds of
millions of dollars each year to print, register, ship, examine, file
and keep safe, even though they're involved in only about one-tenth of
one percent of all trades daily on U.S. markets. One recent study by the
Securities Industry Association puts the annual cost of handling paper
stock certificates at $250 million or more. This is why most companies
want the physical certificates eliminated. This is contributing to the
demand of Scripophily (Stock and Bond Certificates) as well as increased
prices of harder to find items.
Scripophily (scrip-ah-fil-ly) is the hobby's name of collecting old
stock and bond certificates. Historical certificates which otherwise
have no redeemable value as financial claims, are bought for their
artistic and historical value by collectors. Values range from a few
dollars to more than $100,000 for the rarest. Tens of thousands of
Scripophily buyers worldwide include casual collectors, corporate
archives, museums and serious collectors.
Scripophily.com LLC, The Gift of History, is the internet's leading
buyer and seller of collectible stock and bond certificates and has had
items on loan for display in the Smithsonian's Museum of Financial
History in New York, been featured on CNBC, USA Today, Baltimore Sun,
Washington Post and in many other media publications. The company offers
an old stock research service at OldCompany.com and also offers high
resolution scans for publications. Scripophily.com was founded by Bob
Kerstein (Bob.com) who has more than 25 years of senior management
experience in the Cellular, Cable TV, Satellite, Internet, Professional
Sports and Entertainment Industries. Bob is also the President of the
Professional Scripophily Traders Association (PSTA).
Scripophily.com® has experienced over 17.9 Million page views on its
websites during the past 12 months. There are over 10,000 different
selections including categories such as Frauds, Scandals, Bankruptcies,
Dot Coms, as well as the more traditional areas such as Railroads,
Telephone, Entertainment, Sports, Manufacturing, Mining, Utilities, Oil
and Gas, Retail, Tobacco, Food, Banks, Insurance and others.
For more information on Scripophily.com®, visit www.scripophily.com, or
call 1-703-579-4209.
-
Scripophily.com's High Resolution archive scanning service is used by
Business Week in January 2006. Scripophily.com has an extensive archive of images of Stock and Bond
Certificates that have been used by major news organizations and
publications. Our library has over 13000 images and we have
supplied many of the major broadcasting, print and publishing companies
around the world with our images relating to current news stories and
articles. For information you can call us directly at
1.703.579.4209.
 |
Image provided by Scripophily.com used in Business Week January
2006. |
-
January 31, 2006 -
United shareholders left out in cold
By: GEORGE CHAMBERLIN - For the North
County Times
.....The collection
of financial documents such as stock certificates has become
quite popular. Scripophily, as it's called, has been around
for a long time, but really took off after the tech stock
crash of 2000.
One Web site ----
www.scripophily.net ---- offers a collection of eight
stock certificates that it calls the "Hall of Shame Package of
Companies That Changed America." It includes Enron, DrKoop.com,
Global Crossing, Kmart, Webvan.com and several other big
losers that cost investors millions of dollars.....
-
-
Sacramento Bee Columnist
Friday, November 25, 2005
Hold 'em or fold 'em? No easy answers with General Motors bonds By
Jack Sirard....
Q: My father died five years ago. In his house, I found around 700
shares of Banning Oil Co., incorporated January 1921.I have searched
the Internet for information and can't come up with anything. Someone
told me they thought it was tied in someway with Standard Oil. Do you
have any insight? - Greg S., Sacramento
A: When it comes to information on old stock and bond certificates, I
like to rely on Bob Kerstein, president of Virginia-based
Oldcompany.com and
Scripophily.com.
His 10-year-old company is named after the hobby of collecting old
stock and bond certificates. For a fee ($39.95), the company - like
others in the field - will research whether your stock or bond
certificate has any value.
As Kerstein points out, it can be exciting when someone comes upon an
old stock certificate because there's always a chance that the stock
will be worth a bundle. But before you get too excited, you should
know that in most cases, old stock certificates prove to be worthless,
says Kerstein, whose company bills itself as the Internet's biggest
buyer and seller of collectible stock certificates.
"I can't tell you how many times I've been told by someone that they
think their stock was linked to Standard Oil," he says. "But
inevitably, that doesn't prove to be the case." Unfortunately, he
says, that appears to be the case with Banning Oil. "The stock doesn't
show up in our databases, nor is it in any of our books. The chances
are that the stock is not worth anything," he adds.
The biggest problem in researching old stocks is that there is no
single database to go to for information. To get started, Kerstein
advises investors to do a Google search for the company listed on
their stock certificate. You also might be able to find information
for free at your public library.
His advice is to frame the stock, particularly if it has a family name
on it. You could then hand it down as a great piece of collectible
family art, he says.
-
USA TODAY 11/18/2005 by
John Waggoner
They'll appreciate holiday gifts that might
appreciate
Face it: Most financial gifts are as
appealing as discount coupons for gym socks. But not all
financial gifts have to be boring. In fact, with a little
effort, you can find some gifts that your loved ones will
appreciate — and that may appreciate in value, too.
.....Or consider antique stock certificates. The scandal-minded can get
an Enron stock certificate for $29.95 at
scripophily.com, which is
$29.95 more than it's worth on the stock exchange. Nevertheless, it's a
conversation piece, particularly since it has the crooked "E" logo. (For
ironic Enron memorabilia, though, it's hard to beat the coffee mugs
inscribed with the Enron "Ask Why," marketing slogan. They sometimes
turn up on eBay, the online auctioneer.)
Some stock certificates are
valuable because of the signatures on them. For example, a company
called Bayouboys Limited issued a stock certificate signed by Truman
Capote, author of In Cold Blood and subject of the recent movie
Capote. You can buy the certificate for $595 on
scripophily.com.
If that's too rich for your blood,
look for stocks related to a person's interests, says
Bob Kerstein, president of
scripophily.net. For example,
he sells a package of certificates from the four railroads in Monopoly —
Cleveland Short Line, Pennsylvania, Reading and, Baltimore and Ohio
railroads — for $39.95.
Of course, there's no guarantee
that any of these will make money. For that, you'll need a Savings Bond.
But combining the two could be good for fun and profit — and what's
wrong with that?
-
Village Voice
November 15th, 2005 - Elements of Style
Taking the Fifth H&M, A&F,
and Fendi by Lynn Yaeger
Apparently just one party isn't
sufficient to mark the 80th anniversary of the house of Fendi......
Far more authentically vintage is a showcase displaying old skis,
lacrosse shoes, and other well-worn sporting equipment. Is this an
homage to the old Abercrombie & Fitch [www.scripophily.net],
a much loved blue-blood sporting goods store on Madison Avenue in the
40s that went out of business decades ago? That place, with its stock of
tweed hacking coats, khaki safari jackets, and an entire floor of guns
never felt the need to rely on a half-naked boy toy in a doorway....
-
Argus Leader 11/7/05 - Theater chain was popular in 1900s 1913 theater
sees boom in bookings by JAY KIRSCHENMANN
Music, theater, comedy and jazz are finding the Orpheum
Theater's stage so much to their liking that the 1913 structure is
poised to break booking records in the coming year. The lively schedule,
which this year hit 124 bookings, is a far cry from the dim financial
struggles that closed the former Sioux Falls Community Playhouse in
2002. The city bought the theater at 315 N. Phillips Ave. and has
invested in updating the historic building. In 2006, the city plans to
spend nearly $1.1 million in what is the next stage of the theater's
rebirth.
...Many of the Orpheum Theatres were originally associated with the
Keith Albee Orpheum vaudeville circuit, or later the Radio Keith Orpheum
company, also known as RKO, creators of "King Kong" and other classic
films, according to Bob Kerstein of Scripophily, a company that sells stock and bond certificates from
historic companies across the country. The theater group was named after
"Orpheus," the son of one of the Muses and a Thracian prince, although
some stories say he was the son of Morpheus and Calliope. Orpheus was a
musician and poet. He is also considered to be the founder of Orphism,
an ancient Greek cult that stressed the transmigration of souls, moral
and ritual purity, and individual responsibility for guilt, Kerstein
said....
-
Orlando Sentinel
November 6, 2005
Aeroscripophilists grab airline papers
- Stock certificates are a hot commodity for these collectors....He
(Kerstein) has a Web site, www.scripophily.com, where most of his sales are made -- 5,000 to
10,000 items a year, with the aviation kind comprising about 10 percent
to 15 percent.
Most companies no longer automatically issue stock papers, leaving
transactions to be conducted and recorded electronically. Some will
issue buyers paper, but for a fee of $30 to $50....
-
Baltimore Sun
-November 3, 2005
- Airline stocks sought for their paper
value by Meredith Cohn -
The airline industry is the focus of aeroscripophilists, who collect
financial papers with ties to aviation.
...Hobbyists have long collected other scripophily in industries
ranging from railroads to automobiles. But the troubled airline industry
has recently been attracting their attention and cash.
..They are the fan base of the long-gone, the merged, the failing, the
once-and-maybe-still high flying. Those who assign more value to what an
airline prints than what an airline makes and who like the pictures,
famous signatories and distinctive engraving, generally more than their
investment prospects...."Such a hobby is not mainstream, yet" said
Robert A. Kerstein, a Northern Virginia collector and broker as well as
head of the Professional Scripophily Trade Association. "Most people
just frame them and hang them on the wall."
...He has a Web site,
www.scripophily.com, where most of his sales are made - some 5,000
to 10,000 items a year, with the aviation kind making up about 10
percent to 15 percent...Kerstein,
a history buff and former financial executive at an aviation company,
says the niche is filled with a range of people. Many just want to hold
a small, tangible piece of history in an electronic age. Some worked for
an airline or had a family member who worked for one.
-
Q I inherited some old stocks and bonds. How do
I know if they're any good? A It takes a
little research. Even if the stock or bond is no
longer traded under the name printed on the
certificate, it may be valuable, because:
•The company may have merged with another
company or simply changed its name.
•Some certificates have collectible value.
You can research the stock at public
libraries, or through stock exchanges or a
stockbroker's office. In addition, the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission suggests, but
does not endorse, the following resources:
Scripophily.com (www.scripophily.com):
The company is named after the hobby of
collecting old stock and bond certificates. For
a fee, Scripophily.com researches whether your
stock or bond certificate has any value. The
company also is a large buyer and seller of
collectible certificates, with a list and images
of more than 4,500 companies. Or write
Scripophily.com,
Box 223795, Chantilly, VA 20153....
-
AERO SCRIPOPHILIACS
- WHO WOULD BUY AVIATION STOCK THAT'S NOT WORTH THE PAPER IT'S PRINTED ON? BY ROGER A. MOLA
October/November 2005
Air & Space Magazine
...In his office in suburban Virginia,
Bob Kerstein presents his original 1936 A-1
for Bell Aircraft, with its
pristine specimens and
signatures of President
Lawrence Bell and all
officers. Kerstein's Web
site, scripophily.com,
currently lists 10,000
items. "Here's another
cool one! "
he says,
flipping through a milk
crate to fmd documents
from Bonanza Airlines,
a 1960s-era commuter
line connecting Los
Angeles with Las Vegas
that Kerstein flew on
regularly as a youngster.
Another of Kerstein's
treasures is a framed
certificate issued in
1915 to Orville Wright, a
stake of 440 shares
signed by Wright's sister,
Katharine, as secretary
and by brother Lorin
Wright as vice president.
"It's a copy, or else it
would sell for at least
$30,000." He pauses,
then lowers his voice.
"At least, I think it ' s a
copy
Lacking the signature
of a celebrity or obvious
historical value, a
certificate can
sometimes attract an
investor by the sheer
quirkiness of the
concept, product, or
scheme it represents.
Kerstein even relishes
the artifacts of a scam.
His Gray Goose Airways prospectus, written
by inventor and pitclunan Jonathan E.
Caldwell, brags: "Ours
is one of the greatest
opportunities yet offered." The Gray Goose
was to take off with flapping wings and
cruise with gas mileage of 100 miles per
gallon. Today's poor investment may be
tomorrow's collectible. But with more and
more stocks being registered and
transferred electronically, paper certificates
are on their way out altogether. And the
disappearance will only increase the value
of paper now in circulation
-
WMAL, WTNT Financial Guru and
Scripophily Collector Rick Malone Dies - 10/5
-
 Richard
Malone (right), 48, a stock market adviser to AM radio listeners as well
as a senior vice president at Reston's Ferris, Baker, Watts, died 10/2
after he slipped and fell at his home in Falls Church. Fairfax County
police said the death was accidental. Known on air as "Rick,"
Malone was the stock market guru on "The Wise Investor Show,"
which he co-hosted with Randy Beeman on Saturday mornings on WTNT (570
AM) and Sunday mornings on WMAL (630 AM). WMAL General Manager Chris
Berry told the
Washington Post that Malone built a loyal fan base because listeners
knew that he put his money behind the stocks he recommended. "His show
was popular with people who enjoyed playing the market," said Ric
Edelman, who hosts a financial show Saturday mornings on WMAL.....Rick
was also a well known Scripophily Collector specializing in Old Oil
Companies and will be dearly missed by everyone who knew him.
- New Delaware law is another step
towards elimination of Stock Certificates
- Scripophily.com reports
that effective August 1, 2005, Delaware Companies are no longer
required to issue Stock Certificates. The new rules eliminates the
requirement that a corporation with uncertificated shares issue a
certificate for such shares upon the request of the holder of such
shares. Notwithstanding this amendment, a corporation with
uncertificated shares still is permitted to issue a certificate upon the
request of a holder, but the corporation is not obligated to do so.
This is consistent with the process known as
dematerializationwhich is the elimination of paper certificates.
According to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, paper stock
certificates cost companies, investors, banks and brokers hundreds of
millions of dollars each year to print, register, ship, examine, file
and keep safe, even though theyre involved in only about one-tenth of
one percent of all trades daily on U.S. markets. One study, released by
the Securities Industry Association (SIA) last year, puts the annual
cost of handling paper stock certificates at $250 million or more.
The Depository Trust & Clearing
Corporation also noted that electronic ownership of securities are not
only more economical, but much safer. Well over a million paper
securities are reported lost, stolen or counterfeit each year, according
to the Securities Information Center, which helps investors replace
missing stock certificates. On 9/11, some $16 billion worth of
certificates disappeared in the collapse of the World Trade Center
towers, and it took many months of record-checking and millions of
dollars to replace them. Electronic shares, in contrast, were not
affected at all.
The two states and one territory still
require companies to issue paper certificates are Arizona, Louisiana,
and Puerto Rico.
-
The Star-Ledger - New Jersey Wednesday, July 20, 2005- Ask the Biz
Brain
My father-in-law recently died. While going through his possessions, I
found some stock certificates that he bought over 30 years ago. How
can I find out if these stocks have any current value?
Bewildered in Bloomingdale
The folks the Securities and Exchange Commission hear this kind of
question so often, they've dedicated an entire section on their Web
site to this very topic.
So, you are in luck.
As it turns out, stock or bond certificates may still be valuable even
if they no longer trade under the name printed on the certificate or
the company has merged with another company or simply changed its
name.
The SEC has provided a list resources to help investors just like
yourself find out if old stock or bond certificates have value.
You can find these resources on the Internet, at public libraries,
stock exchanges or stockbrokers' offices.
1) Scripophily.com
-- The company is named after the hobby of
collecting old stock and bond certificates. For a $39.95 fee per
company, Scripophily.com researches whether your stock or bond
certificate has any value. Its telephone number is (703) 579-4209.
2.) Financial Stock Guide Service -- This comprehensive guide is a
good starting point for all research on old stock certificates. This
listing, updated annually, contains a directory of actively traded
stocks and obsolete securities. The Custom Research department of
Financial Information be reached at (800) 367-3441.
3)
Robert D. Fisher Manual of Valuable & Worthless Securities. Published
by R.M. Smythe & Co., this is a multi-volume resource that is
particularly helpful guide if you are trying to trace the value of old
stock certificates.
And remember, even if you learn a certificate has no value, you may
find the certificate itself has value as a collectable. Good luck!
 JULY
13TH, 2005 - CNBC’s David Faber, the first to break the
news of massive fraud at WorldCom, will anchor a one-hour primetime
documentary that will tell the story of the largest fraud in U.S.
corporate history, a fraud that surpassed $11 billion, and the
bankruptcy that it forced was likewise the largest ever. “The Big Lie:
Inside the Rise and Fraud of WorldCom” will also provide an inside look
into the beginning and end of WorldCom, and it’s former CEO Bernard
Ebbers. Stock Certificates shown in special supplied by
SCRIPOPHILY.COM.
NEW YORK--May 24, 2005
- Delaware Law Change Will Save Investors Millions of Dollars; DTCC Says
National Drive to Eliminate Paper Certificates Picking up Steam
-
By eliminating its legal requirement that companies
issue paper stock certificates, Delaware's state legislature will save
investors and companies millions of dollars a year, said Jill M.
Considine, chairman and CEO of The Depository Trust & Clearing
Corporation (DTCC), which handles the post-trade processing and
settlement of securities transactions for most U.S. markets.
Delaware was one of five states still requiring public companies
incorporated in the state to issue paper certificates for equities,
which are the last financial instruments still using physical ownership
records. Virtually all other securities today - including corporate and
municipal bonds, U.S. government securities, money-market instruments,
futures, options and mutual funds - are issued and traded in a
paperless, electronic format that allows for automated processing and
safekeeping.
Paper stock certificates cost companies, investors,
banks and brokers hundreds of millions of dollars each year to print,
register, ship, examine, file and keep safe, even though they're
involved in only about one-tenth of one percent of all trades daily on
U.S. markets. One study, released by the Securities Industry Association
(SIA) last year, puts the annual cost of handling paper stock
certificates at $250 million or more.
The SIA has been leading the securities industry's
effort on "dematerialization"--the elimination of paper certificates.
"Since DTCC's subsidiary is the world's largest securities depository
and holds in custody securities valued at more than $28 trillion, we are
actively supporting the SIA in achieving this shared objective,"
Considine said.
The two states and one territory that still require
companies to issue paper certificates are Arizona, Louisiana, and Puerto
Rico.
Los Angeles Times - Your Money
- ...Most
old stock certificates found in attics are worthless, especially those
of mining, utility, carmaker and department store firms felled by the
Depression. However, some stocks of firms that merged, changed names or
exited bankruptcy may have investment value. Others could have
historical or artistic value.
"If you research a certificate and find what happened to the company,
put a note on it before you stick it in a safe deposit box," advised Bob
Kerstein, CEO of Scripophily.com,
a Fairfax, Va., firm that charges $39.95 per stock search to find
details about the certificate's company. "You'll be doing your heirs a
big favor."...
April 24, 2005 -
Chicago
Tribune by Andrew Leckey "TAKING
STOCK"
Question: I recently discovered some old stock certificates in my family
belongings. How can I find out if these companies are still in business
and if the stock has any value?
Answer: ..some
stocks of firms that merged, changed names or exited bankruptcy may have
investment value. Others could have historical or artistic value.
"If you research a certificate and find what happened to the company,
put a note on it before you stick it in a safe deposit box," advised Bob
Kerstein, CEO of Scripophily.com,
a Fairfax, Va., firm that charges $39.95 per stock search to find
details about the certificate's company. "You'll be doing your heirs a
big favor."
.....Scripophily.com has an old
certificate for Houdini Pictures Corp. signed by escape artist Harry
Houdini that's valued at $5,000. Houdini's move into the motion picture
business didn't prove magical, and his firm went bankrupt.
See
OldCompany.com for Stock
Certificate Research Services.
Friday, March 25, 2005 - Sacramento Bee, Jack Sirard:
Tracking old stock certificates... It's always exciting when someone
comes upon an old stock certificate because there's always a chance that
the stock will prove to be worth a small fortune. Even though an old
stock no longer trades under the name on the certificate, it may still
be valuable. The company could have changed its name or been taken over
by another company.
Scripophily.com
is named after
the hobby of collecting old stock and bond certificates. For a fee
($39.95 - OldCompany.com), the
company - like others in the | 
