Antique Stock Certificate Almanac 2005

Introduction

This is the 2005 edition of the Antique Stock Certificate Almanac, developed by Investment Research Institute® back in 1993. This edition is completely updated with various articles about old certificates, definitions, and collecting tips. Collecting antique stock certificates is one of the most fascinating of all hobbies. The collecting of old stock and bond certificates is called scripophily, from the Latin words scrip (document) and phily (love of). The hobby first became popular during the 1960’s, primarily in Europe and to a small extent in the United States.  In the last ten years, the hobby has taken off with collectors all over the world and regular auctions held throughout the year.

The collecting of antique stocks has been compared to the collecting of coins and stamps. The advantages of collecting certificates are numerous:

·        They are large enough to be framed and hung on your wall

·        Despite their large size, hundreds can be stored in one album

·        Most have unique certificate numbers

·        Because of unique numbers, there is little chance of the certificate being stolen and resold publicly

·        There is financial history behind every certificate

·        Many certificates have signatures of famous individuals

·        There are numerous types of certificate topics that can be collected (see our chapter on topics)