When investors think about buying stocks and bonds in the modern era it involves a financial advisor, an electronic brokerage or a smartphone trading applications. That wasn’t always the case. One tradition that has also fallen into history for investing is for investors to take physical delivery of stock certificates and bond certificates. This is the field of scripophily where nostalgic investors enjoy owning these old certificates. In a way, they are displaying Wall Street history by buying old stock and bond certificates.

While high-end collectibles have become an alternative asset class, investment in cancelled stocks and bonds are not at all the same as buying existing stocks and bonds. There are no dividends coming, and any bond coupons present have either been paid or are gone and forgotten. And as with any investment, there is no assurance that the value is going to rise.

It is rather important to understand that canceled and voided stock certificates and bond certificates can be very common. Certificates which have thousands and thousands of individually issued certificates may only have a value of $1.00 or $2.00 per sheet. Maybe they are worth $10.00 to the right buyer on a particular day.

The stock and bond certificates with scarcity, historic signatures and interesting provenance are the ones that pull investors back in even after they have outlived their tangible value. This category of assets tend to be worth more than companies which simply faded away over time. These and other historic examples may cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to purchase today.

Collectors Dashboard evaluates collectibles as an alternative asset class. The same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds is being used to buy high-end collectibles. So, here is a closer look about re-investing in these old stock certificates and bond certificates that have outlived their formal life?

There are multiple sources which will cater to those collectors and investors who are into scripophily. Online auction giant eBay  ha so many stock certificates for sale under $10.00 that you could use them as wallpaper if really wanted to. The website scripophily.net has a trove of historical share and bond certificates up for sale. Sotheby’s has also sold historical certificates, as has Heritage Auctions. There is also a society and a coming convention dedicated to scripophily.

Heritage Auctions has sold stock certificates that are of value both for the company and for the signature signed on it. A Thomas Edison signed stock certificate sold for $466.00 way back on August 19, 2003. That particular example was a stock certificate for 346 shares of the Edison Portland Cement company, signed on the back by Edison as president of the company.

Another historic piece of scripophily was a 1923 Green Bay Packers Stock Certificate sold by Heritage Auctions. That piece sold on February 22, 2020 for $19,800.00 after 19 bids. A second 1923 Green Bay Packers Stock Certificate sold more recently, on August 19, 2021 for $44,400.00 after 31 bids.

Heritage even had a rather high-end sale of a stock certificate which was not even a real company. Neil Armstrong’s 1969 presentation from James Lovell named the “Apollo Long Haul Transport Company” was a signed “stock certificate in a framed display which came directly from the Armstrong Family Collection. This piece of scripophily history was CAG certified and sold for $27,500.00 on July 16, 2019 after 19 bids. The piece was dated September 1, 1969, and signed by the Apollo 13 original crew.

The website Scripophily.net specializes in high-end certificates, although it also sells more affordable pieces of history as well. One item it has had for some time is a certificated that is signed twice by John D. Rockefeller for $2,195.00.They also have prices for the dreaded ENRON debacle, a stock certificate for the biggest scandal in modern corporate history.

Scripophily.net also has notorious share certificates for sale for the likes of Blockbuster and even the former K-Mart. And for those who want transportation history and nostalgia, shares of Pan American Airlines can be purchased on the cheap. Of if the recent recession wasn’t a good enough reminder, you can buy a certificate of the doomed Lehman Brothers which helped kick off the 2008 global financial crisis. They even have certificates for Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. stock and a bond 14% from Trump Taj Mahal Funding, Inc. that can be purchased.

The website BullMarketGifts.com also has many stock certificates and historic bond certificates for sale. That site also offers a trove of investing related gifts and novelties.

As for 20th century historical items, one item which is becoming harder to find are old variations of War Bonds issued by the United States to help fund World War 2. These will generally sell for $200 or less, but they may sell for much higher. Scripophily.net also offers these and related items for sale. Examples of the notorious “Bearer Bonds” were physical bonds due upon physical presentation. These were more than difficult to track if lost or stolen, and they were given some references in the first Die Hard move and the movie Heat a decade later.

I have also included a photo that has been in my own office for several years now.

Several other key sales have been noted over time. A 1997 BRE-X MINERALS LTD stock certificate sold for $700.00, and this was tied to the biggest gold mining scam in modern history. A rare Walt Disney Company stock certificate also sold in 2021 for $420.00, as did an Apple Computer specimen stock certificate from 1998 for $378.99.

Sotheby’s has had a role in selling historical stock certificates as well. It had a Miller Huggins signed 1925 baseball stock certificate in the St. Paul Base Ball Club, Inc. Sotheby’s has also a Harry Frazee signed 1916 Red Sox stock certificate. The auction house also once sold a group of 3 certificates in the W.B. Jarvis Co. issued to Ty Cobb, one of which the baseball great had signed himself.

There is also a website of Scripophily.org which is for the International Bond & Share Society which covers every aspect of scripophily you can think of. This includes publications, dealer lists and auction houses, websites and even a list of museums which offer global displays. Would is surprise you that Scripophily.org also announced that there is the 2022 National Stock and Bond Show in Herndon, Virginia. The dates for that show are set for January 28 & 29, 2022.

And then again, maybe you just want to collect a real $1,000 bill. just don’t expect to buy it for face value.

Below is a photo of a stock certificate of 1 share in The Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia. It was signed and dated as of August 2, 1889. This photo was taken personally at the 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago.