Scripophily
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Scripophily is the study and collection of stocks and bonds. A specialized field of numismatics, scripophily is an interesting area of collecting due to both the inherent beauty of some historical documents as well as the interesting historical context of each document. Some stock certificates are excellent examples of engraving. Occasionally, an old stock document will be found that still has value as a stock in a successor company.
History
Scripophily, the collecting of canceled old stocks and bonds, gained recognition as a hobby around the mid-1970s. The word resulted combining words from English and Greek. The word "scrip" represents an ownership right and the word "philos" means to love. Today there are thousands of collectors worldwide in search of scarce, rare, and popular stocks and bonds. Collectors who come from the a variety of businesses enjoy this as a hobby, although there are many who consider scripophily a good investment. In fact, over the past several years, this hobby has exploded. Dot com companies and scandals have been particularly popular.
Many collectors like the historical significance of certificates. Others prefer the beauty of older stocks and bonds that were printed in various colors with fancy artwork and ornate engraving.
Many autograph collectors are found in this field, looking for signed certificates from John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil Company, Henry Carey of Franklin Fire Insurance Company, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Atari Corporation, Eddie Rickenbacker as president of Eastern Air Lines, George W. Bush's great-grandfather Samuel Prescott Bush, Broadband.com, Tucker Corporation and many others.
Scripophily as a Hobby
There are many reasons for the success of this hobby. First of all, stocks/bonds are collectible worldwide, since almost every country has had stocks and/or bonds issued through their governments or businesses.
A large part of the scripophily is the area of financial history. Over the years there have been millions of companies which needed to raise money for their businesses. In order to do so, the founders of these companies issued securities. Generally speaking, they either issued an equity security in the form of stock or a debt security in the form of a bond. However, there are many variations of equity and debt instruments. They can be common stock, preferred stock, warrants, cumulative preferred stocks, bonds, zero-coupon bonds, long term bonds (over 400 years) and any combination thereof.
Each certificate is a piece of history about a company and its business. Some companies became major successes, while others were acquired and merged with other companies. Some of the companies and industries were successful until they were replaced by improvements in technologies. The color, paper, signatures, dates, stamps, cancellations, borders, pictures, vignettes industry, stock broker, name of company, transfer agent, printer, holder name all add to the uniqueness of the hobby.
A lot of companies were never successful and the certificates became worthless pieces of paper, until the hobby of scripophily began. The mining boom in the 1850s, railroad construction in the 1830s, the oil boom in the 1870s, telegraphy (1850s), the automobile industry beginning around 1900, aviation (around 1910), electric power and banks in the 1930s, the airline wars and mergers in the 1970s, cellular telephones (1980s), long distance telephone service in the 1990s, and most recently the Dot com era all resulted in historically significant certificates being generated and issued.
With the existence of the Internet, more and more stocks and bonds are issued electronically, meaning fewer paper certificates are issued as a percentage of actual stock issued. However, the Internet has also played a major role in creating awareness of the hobby.
Scripophily Guidelines
There are many factors that determine value of a certificate including condition, age, historical significance, signatures, rarity, demand for item, aesthetics, type of company, original face value, bankers associated with issuance, transfer stamps, cancellation markings, issued or unissued, printers, and type of engraving process.
Condition - The grading scale that could be used in stocks and bonds is shown below. Generally speaking, however, the grading is not used in the hobby as strictly as it is in coins and stamps. Most people acquire certificates for the artwork and history.
- Uncirculated - Looks like new, no abnormal markings or folds, no staples, clean signature and no stains
- Extremely Fine - Slight traces of wear
- Very Fine - Minor traces of wear
- Fine - Creased with clear signs of use and wear
- Fair- Strong signs of use and wear
- Poor- Some damage with heavy signs of wear and staining
- Age - Usually the older the more valuable, but not always.
Historical significance - What product did the company produce? Was it the first car, airplane, cotton gin, etc. Was the company successful? Was it a fraud? What era (i.e. during a war, depression, revolution) was the item issued?
Signatures - Did anyone famous or infamous sign the certificate?
Certificate Owner's Name - Was the certificate issued to anyone famous or a famous company?
Rarity - How many of the certificates were issued? How many survived over the years? Is the certificate a low number?
Demand for Item - How many people are trying to collect the same certificate?
Aesthetics - How does the certificate look? What is in the vignette? What color of ink was used? Does it have fancy borders or writing on it?
Type of company - What type of company was it issued for? Does the industry still exist? Has the industry changed a lot over the years?
Original Face Value - How much was the stock or bond issued for? Usually, the larger the original face value, the more collectible it is.
Bankers associated with Issuance - Who worked on the fund raising efforts? Was it someone famous or a famous bank? Is the bank still in existence?
Transfer Stamps - Does the certificate have tax stamps on it - imprinted or attached? Are the stamps valuable or unusual?
Cancellation Markings - Are the cancellation markings interesting to the item? Do they detract or add to its history and looks?
Issued or Unissued - Was the item issued or unissued? Was the certificate a printer's prototype usually stamped with the words specimen? Usually the issued certificates are more valuable and desired.
Printers - Who printed the certificate? Was it a famous printer?
Type of Engraving Process - How was the certificate made? By hand? By wood engraving? Steel engraving? Lithograph? Preprinted form?
Paper - Was the paper use in the printing high quality or low quality? Has it held up over time? Does it have a watermark to prevent counterfeiting?
- Modern Stocks (http://www.modernstocks.com/)
- Scripophily.net (http://www.scripophily.net/) - The Internet's #1 Buyer and Seller of Old Stock and Bond Certificates - The company's CEO, Bob Kerstein has been featured on CNBC and other media related publications.
- Museum of Scripophily (http://www.scripophily-museum.com/)
- Scripophily News (http://www.scripophilynews.com/)
- history of scripophily (http://www.tschoepe.de/information_engl.htm) - Informations about the history of collecting old shares
- Scripophily Shows (http://www.scripophilyshows.com/)
- Bob.com - Wall Street History (http://www.bob.com/)
- oldest share (http://www.oldest-share.com/) - the oldest share in the world (Voc 1606)de:Scripophilie