How to find out if an old stock certificate is worth anything

Start with what’s printed on the front

Write down the company’s name exactly as printed, down to “Company”, “Corporation” or “Inc.” Plenty of companies had nearly identical names, and that one word is sometimes the only thing that tells them apart. Then find the state, usually in a line like “Incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware.” Together with the date, the state is what pins down which company you actually have.

Note the number of shares, the class (common or preferred) and the owner’s name. That last one matters more than people expect: the shares belong to the person named on the certificate, or their estate, not to whoever ends up holding the paper. If a transfer agent is named near the bottom, or there’s a nine-character CUSIP number, write those down too. Our guide on how to read an old stock certificate walks through every part.

Fair warning: punched holes, a “Cancelled” stamp or a signed transfer form on the back usually mean the shares were already exchanged, sold or replaced. A cancelled certificate is normally worth only what a collector would pay for it.

Follow the company to today

A company can be renamed, merged, bought and renamed again over a few decades, and each step changes what one share became: an exchange ratio, a cash payment per share, a stock split. The goal is to follow every step up to the present.

The SEC’s EDGAR company search is the best free place to start. EDGAR keeps a company’s former names, so a renamed company often turns up under its old one, and merger filings spell out the buyer and the terms. The catch is that electronic filing was phased in between 1993 and 1996, so a company that stopped filing before then may not show up at all.

Next, check the business registry in the state printed on the certificate, usually run by the Secretary of State or a Division of Corporations. It shows whether the corporation is active, merged, dissolved or revoked, and sometimes when. Older records may only be available by request.

For changes before the 1990s, head to the library. Large public and university libraries keep printed guides to renamed, merged and worthless companies, like Moody’s (later Mergent) manuals and directories of obsolete securities, and a reference librarian can point you to them. Newspaper archives help too: mergers and buyouts of listed companies were usually reported, often with the price paid per share.

Ask the people who can confirm it

Research tells you what probably happened. Only two kinds of office can confirm what your shares are today and actually pay them out, and asking either one is free.

The first is the transfer agent for the company, or for whichever company took it over. It keeps the list of shareholders and can tell you whether your certificate still counts and what it represents now. The company’s investor relations page or annual report names its current transfer agent.

The second is a state unclaimed property office. If the shares, or a buyout payment, sat unclaimed for years, the company may have handed them over to the state. Our guide to old stock certificates and unclaimed property covers which states to search. And if the shares do turn out to be good, cashing them in usually goes through the transfer agent or a broker.

Check the collector value last

People collect old certificates (the hobby is called scripophily), so even shares that are worth nothing can sell as paper. Most common certificates fetch very little. Age, a famous company, a notable signature, a low certificate number and fine engraving all push the price up, and a dealer or auction house can give you a sense of it.

Just don’t sell, give away or throw out a certificate until you’ve confirmed the shares themselves are worthless. Records have gaps, and a share that looks dead sometimes has a claim behind it.