THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9606040511
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 126 lines
The certificate for a thousand shares of the Standard Oil Trust had been canceled long ago.
But Haley Garrison quickly realized that the ornate 1882 document had value, at least to collectors.
Near the bottom was the signature of John D. Rockefeller, Standard Oil's president.
``I was speechless. It was a bombshell dropped in my lap,'' said Garrison, proprietor of Antique Stocks and Bonds in Williamsburg.
Someone brought the certificate to him four years ago and asked if it had any value.
``What made it exciting was that this piece of paper helped create a mighty industry,'' Garrison said.
At a time when brokerage firms have discouraged investors from taking delivery of their stock and bond certificates, Garrison described a growing interest in the decorative and historical features of old securities.
Worldwide, there are about 20,000 collectors of old stocks and bonds, and half are in the United States, Garrison estimated.
What do they look for?
While pointing out the details of a bond certificate from a 19th century railroad, Garrison cited certain desirable features:
Signatures of notable business figures and entrepreneurs, such as Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan or Thomas Edison.
Pictures that are attractive or have historic significance.
The age and scarcity of a certificate.
Depending on who signed it, a Standard Oil Trust stock certificate may be worth between $3,500 and $6,500, Garrison said. ``Some were signed two or three times by Rockefeller.''
Funds raised from the sale of Standard Oil shares enabled Rockefeller to build an enormous monopoly, which was later broken into the predecessor companies of Exxon Corp., Mobil Corp. and other petroleum giants.
Hoping to prevent counterfeiting, issuers of stocks and bonds used elaborate engraving at the top and along the borders. Some issuers also chose a specific picture to foster investor confidence. When Rockefeller issued shares in his Standard Oil Trust, he had the U.S. Capitol put at the top.
``He wanted to suggest the idea that this company was supported by the U.S. government,'' Garrison said.
In many instances, the attractiveness of a certificate masked the company's financial weakness. In a few cases, beautiful certificates helped promoters swindle unsophisticated investors.
Garrison said individuals routinely write to him asking about the value of stock certificates issued by mining companies in the 1920s and 1930s. The vast majority of these have little or no value, he said.
Yet collectors sometimes find historical details in a certificate's pictures that make the document valuable.
For example, a 3 percent bond issued by the Chicago & Alton Railroad in 1899 stands out because of the engraving of a locomotive at the top.
``This was the last train that Jesse James stuck up,'' Garrison said. ``Why would Jesse go after the Chicago & Alton? Because it had Pullman Palace cars, and rich people would be riding in them.''
Garrison, president of the 50-member Society for the Preservation of American Business History, said most of his clients are business people seeking attractive certificates to hang on their office walls.
Others are collectors interested in the history of particular companies and industries. One Danish client, he said, works in Indonesia for a major oil company and collects old oil-company certificates.
For Garrison, tracking down the value of old stocks and bonds, and learning about their issuers evolved from an interest in history, which he studied in college.
``This was a natural for me because I became fascinated with financial history,'' the Norfolk native said.
Micheline Masse developed a similar interest in the history of old stocks and bonds. While living in Montreal and studying for a business degree in the mid-1960s, Masse decorated a wall in her home with attractive securities. When a friend asked if a stock she owned might still be valuable, Masse tracked down the company that issued it and helped her friend recover some money.
``I decided to write a thesis on Russian bonds and then wrote a coffee-table book about them,'' said Masse, who began conducting stock searches full time in the 1970s.
Today she is president of Stock Search International Inc. in Tucson, Ariz., and buys and sells old certificates. But she spends most of her time trying to recover money on those stocks and bonds that have intrinsic value.
Old stocks and bonds sometimes turn up in attics, closets and safe-deposit boxes. In most cases, the companies that issued them have disappeared. Still, there are instances when a company has been acquired or changed its name, Masse said. If so, the certificate's owner may be able to recover some money.
Relying on a data base and reference library that she has assembled, Stock Search International conducts about 3,000 searches a year, Masse said.
``We've gathered information on 40,000 companies and have Moody's and Standard & Poor's directories going back to the 1800s,'' she said.
Some searches of old stocks and bonds are much easier than others.
``Railroads were very well documented, and they were regulated, so we have a lot of information about them,'' she said. ``Mining companies are rather well documented in mining journals and mine records.''
Masse's company charges $85 to conduct a search and prepares a brief report on what happened to the company. ``We don't guarantee that a stock is worth money, and if we don't find any information about it, we will refund the fee,'' she said.
If it determines that the stock or bond has intrinsic value, Stock Search International will follow up by trying to recover the value. In return, it keeps 30 percent of the amount received. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot
A 3 percent bond issued by the Chicago & Alton Railroad in 1899 has
value because of its engraving of a train. ``This was the last train
that Jesse James stuck up,'' says Haley Garrison, proprietor of
Antique Stocks and Bonds in Williamsburg. Worldwide, there are about
20,000 collectors of old securities.
Graphics
WHAT COLLECTORS LOOK FOR
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
MORE INFORMATION
Additional information about the value of old stocks and bonds is
available from these companies:
Antique Stocks and Bonds
Drawer JH
Williamsburg, VA, 23187
(800) 451-4504 (outside Virginia)
(804) 220-3838
Stock Search International Inc.
10855 N. Glen Abbey Drive
Tucson, AZ., 85737
(800) 537-4523 or (520) 544-2590 by CNB