How Do You Sell Old Stock Certificates?
You may have come into some old stock certificates when rummaging through family papers or by inheritance. They may not be worth anything. On the other hand, if the company is still in business in some form, those old pieces of paper may turn out to be very valuable. Before you can sell old stock certificates you’ll need to find out if the company still exists and then arrange to have ownership transferred to you. Getting the facts you need may take some time and research, but just might pay off handsomely. Find the key information on the stock certificates. You need the company name and the state where it was incorporated. You also need the COSIP number, which is a unique identifier for the stock of that company. Finally, make a note of the name of the stockholder of record (the original owner). All of this information should be on the face of the certificates. Search for the company at your local library or online. Some financial websites (Yahoo! Finance, for example) have free stock
