Recently I asked my broker about obtaining physical possession of the stock certificate.  That was the normal practice back in the day.  You bought stock through your broker and eventually you were sent a certificate.  Nowadays when you buy stock, you get either a printed or electronic statement showing what is held in your account.   Here is his response:



Does this seem right to you guys?

That is what ive heard several times when brought up on this site.

Just write him a letter and ask him to do more research. Or page him. Or fax.

Broker is researching it now.

I believe the last time I actually held a  stock certificate in my hand was the very early 90s.

I don't miss it at all. Here is what I found on a popular online broker's website.

?The majority of Non Exchange Listed securities are also DRS eligible. Paper certificate requests will also be electronically transferred to the transfer agent via the Direct Registration System (DRS) in place of requesting a paper certificate. In the event the security is NOT DRS Eligible, a paper certificate will be mailed to the customer for a fee of $75.00 for domestic companies and $250.00 for international companies.

Doesn't look like I will be getting any certificates in the future.

Sounds right to me. Wife's father has some certificates his family has held for like 50 -60 years. One is Disney iirc.

Thanks guys.

If you have Berkshire class A, I'd say get the certs. Otherwise, it is a waste of money. It can run you $500 to get the certificates. There is nothing wrong with printing an account summary and framing it. ;)

I was awarded company stocks at work and was given an actual stock certificate,

I got a Ruger stock cert as a gift.
Wish I would of bought more ruger stocks back when it was half of what it is now.

You could say the same for a lot of companies 10 years from now. The difference being you have the opportunity to buy today.

now that you have your answer, I really need to know why?

Stocks are held in trust with "you" listed as the intended beneficiary and not the holder of title.

That's in street name, but you could always direct register.

Are you trying to hide ownership?

No.  There distinction between being an intended beneficiary and a title holder is the main concern.

I got ya, I was curious as it's not a common request

Why?  There's nothing to be gained holding paper vs book shares except for maybe Disney which has a cool looking certificate you can give to your grandkids it's just something to lose or get destroyed

it sounds more like it's an estate law issue or somthing another.

Why?  Remember PFG Best or MF Global?  That's why.  

BTW, a couple of places don't issue paper but do direct register like Midcap suggested.

Yeah I remember those two, but I also remember the stocks were held in Type 2, which is margin and I think that was the crux of that fiasco. Also SIPC is somthing to consider.

I'd make sure that's one hell of a fire proof safe.

I have about a dozen stock certificates from (now defunct) Colt's Manufacturing Co. Having been in the investment business and also being a committed 1911 guy, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy them from a local gun dealer who specializes in Colts. They're pretty cool but have no value at all.

In a hundred years, it could be like Winchester roller skates or planes (woodworking tools).  As pieces of Americana, they could have an intrinsic value in and of itself.

True, and in the past I've had a couple framed and offered them as prizes for fundraisers, one of them here.

Well, scripophilists might disagree.

I just looked at some offered between $80 and $280.  I didn't even check E-Bay.

Not a great fortune, but far from being of no value.

Disclaimer;  I have a Dolly Madison stock certificate.  Probably not worth a ding dong, but it would still look impressive framed.

Amazing how new and fresh some of those century + certificates can look if they have been stored well.

Thanks for that info. I've never even considered checking online, just stuck them in a safe.

My big exposure to scripophily was years ago at a Louisville gun show.  Two competing scripophilists had set up tables across from each other.  (Co-incidence?  I think not!).

I couldn't spend too much time looking, as my friend wasn't interested in such things at all.  Yet, I was fascinated by what I did see.  Boxes of unissued 19th century mining company certificates for example.  Though well over a century old at that time, they looked brand new.  I assume high quality linen and cotton paper, stored in a low temperature/low humid
ity environment, also dark.  What works for beer and wine will also work for paper.  (To be technical, I don't think wine is harmed much by light, but why take the risk and expense?).

I have inherited a few stock certificates, my grandfather was born in 1878, and my grandmother was a decade younger.  I am not sure why they retained stock certificates that had been decommissioned, (not sure that is the right word, perhaps "invalidated" would be better).

Anyway, they were works of art, in their own way.  I hold some generic stock certificates in a local company, but that is just not the same thing.

I do remember enjoying my Sturm Ruger certificates back in the day.  Nice picture of a Ruger .22, not as pretty as the Playboy certificates, but still nice.

While I enjoy not fooling with stock certificates today, or with paper paychecks, I wonder what effect that absence will have on younger generations.

I even wonder what effect not using actual cash money, (federal reserve notes and change), will have on future generations.

Oh well, at least there is always bitcoin.

Re-reading my last post, I realized just how much thread drift had occurred.  My apologies, as I was very much responsible for some of that.

Now, since it has already happened, rather than start a new thread, I will continue with the drift.

When I was young, (I think I was 10), I remember seeing my grandmother looking through her stock certificates.  (Greyhound, FWIW, long gone now, but it used to be the big dog, ticker symbol G).  I thought then that I would like to have a bunch of pretty stock certificates also.

Young minds are impressionable.  At least, I know mine was.  My big argument with socialists has always been, laborers can always invest part of their wages to become capitalists.  This has always been met with ridicule.  (Showing IMO, the socialists divorce from reality).  Even Karl Marx recognized that a capitalist can also be a laborer.

Everything today is digitalized.  No more bearer bonds, no more stock certificates, even cash, in the form of federal reserve notes, is going out of use.  I think this may be a move in the wrong direction.

While today's shift to book entry is efficient. I fear that it might lead to bad things down the road.  I never clipped a coupon in my life, but recently had to explain to some one what the coupon room in my local bank was, and that there were no cameras in the coupon room.

I now return you to your regular thread.