Your main questions:   -  Does the stock have any investment value?   -  Is it redeemable?   -  Is the company still around?   -  How do I get money for it?   -  What is the collectible value of the piece?

First, check if the company is still traded on any major financial site.  Most sites have a company name to symbol search system.  If you have no luck, check the links below.

If you have inherited or discovered old stock certificates,  you may have found a fortune or maybe only a neat collectible.  These links and companies will help you to research your stocks to see if they are obsolete or negotiable.  Some links are free, while other links are for companies that charge research fees.  Of course, we suggest starting with the free resources (transfer agents & state regulators) to see if your old stock is worth anything other than a collectible piece of paper. These are the places to start and only cost your time.  Please note that OldStocks.com does not provide what a stock might be worth as an investment.  Our business is collecting old stock certificates. Determining value: If the certificates are not cancelled (perforated, hole punches, stamped, or otherwise marked), you can research by yourself or, save time, and pay for the service.  These services also may help with redemption questions and procedures (how to get your money if it is worth something as an investment).

Fee-based Services for Stock and Bond Research
Old Company Research 888-786-2576	Stock Search International 800-537-4523	Stock Research Services 435-586-9497

Internet resources: You can also check for yourself to see if the company still exists or merged into another company.  It may still have value!  The following links may help in your research.  We provide information on stock exchanges, transfer agents, and state security contacts.  We leave it up to you to check the financial sites for company symbol or listing.

We highly recommend contacting the State Securities Regulators in your investigation of a company or stock certificate.  The state of incorporation is normally stated on the face of the certificate.  The second most important resource is the transfer agent.  We have many links below to trace information from transfer agents (also indicated on most modern securities).  Corporate archives are also a good source for old or merged companies.

List of Transfer Agents (check on your certificate)
StockTransfer.com Find the company's transfer agent.	Transfer Online More transfer agent information	Please note transfer agents may have merged but are an excellent starting point
Shareholder Services Association Support corporate issuers for shareholder recordkeeping (not for stock owners) .	SEC Transfer Agent Site The government's page on the topic with many links to other reference pages	Smaller Transfer Agent List Some are single state agencies while others handle smaller and private companies
American Stock Transfer Covers Microsoft, Honeywell, Under Armour, RiteAid, eTrade, Yum, Dell, and more companies	BNY Mellon Services In 2011, Computershare acquired BNY Mellon's Shareowner Services.	Colonial Stock Transfer Covers lesser known and smaller companies and shareholder communications
ComputerShare Covers the most companies with over 7500 and counting, acquired many other agents	Continental Stock Transfer  Covers Steinway Musical, Leap Frog,  Peet's Coffee, and others	JP Morgan (ADR.com)  Covering foreign (ADR) stocks noting all banks and agents that hold deposits
LINK Shareholder Services Smaller firm that helps trace assets after mergers and asset recovery.	Wells Fargo Services  Covers companies such as Gap, Kraft, Merck, ConAgra, Kellogg, and others	SEARCH HINT:   Do a Google search with the certificate "company name" + "shareholder services"

Definition of Transfer Agent: A financial institution appointed by a company to act as the stockholder record keeper and perform any transactions of the registered stock. Transfer agents issue and cancel stock certificates, disburse dividends, and shareholder tabulations.  Transfer agents perform three main functions:     1)  Issue and cancel certificates to reflect ownership changes, keeping records of who owns a company's stocks and bonds.    2)  Intermediary for the company. transfer agents act as paying agent, proxy agent, exchange agent, tender agent, and mailing agent.     3)  Transfer agents help shareholders when a stock or bond certificate has been lost, destroyed, or stolen.  

Free Research Sites for Old Stocks and Companies
Securities and Exchange Commission AKA the SEC  -- get your taxes worth!	Regulatory Contacts and Exchanges NYSE, AMEX, Nasdaq, etc.	 State Securities Regulators Check with the state of incorporation
Treasury Direct Info about US bonds, bills, and notes	Depository Trust & Clearing Corp Clearing, settlement & info for equities	National Securities Clearing Corp Info for mutual funds and insurance
FINRA.org Financial Industry Regulatory Authority	NACAA.org N. American Securities AdministratorsÂ	Library of Congress LOC guide to researching old companies
 Canadian Regulators Links to every territory	 Canadian Stock Exchanges Links to territory exchanges	Int'l Org. of Security Commissions International information
World Federation of Exchanges International information	CorporateAffliations.com Mergers, acquisitions, and name changes	Directory of Corporate Archives US & Canada business archives
Hoovers.com Business profiles and subsidiaries	Business.com "The Business Search Engine"	Tracing Old Stocks Library guide to investigating old stocks
Gold Sheet Links  Tons of research links from one page	Replacing Lost Certificates The SEC answer page	OTCBB Over the counter stocksÂ
Investor Words Helpful glossary of investing terms	 International Regulators Outside the US (excludes Canada)Â

Offline Research A number of the above links list books and offline contacts that might help in your search.  We did not list them here in order to save space.  Don't forget to use your local library! The Directory of Obsolete Securities (issued every year) covers hundreds of thousands of old securities and merger information.  It is found in larger libraries.

Found something valuable? Contact a licensed broker or authorized financial institution to redeem.  Usually, an active company has investor information on their website (e.g. their transfer agent).  Your broker or transfer agent can also help with merged company information and how securities are handled from previous company names.