Old Stock
Old Stock
What Makes Old Stocks Valuable
An American dream: you find something in an attic or flea market that turns out to be valuable. That something could be a stock certificate that is still valid for ownership in a company. Of course, if you were to find one, it should be researched.
But unfortunately, that rarely happens. However, it still might be worth something as a collector's item. This article discusses the collector value of antique stock certificates.
Ultimately, of course, what makes a collectible stock certificate valuable is someone's willingness to buy it at a particular price. The more people who want it, the more it is worth. That's the demand side of Supply and Demand.
But what about the supply side - the certificates themselves? The following are some of the characteristics of the supply side of certificates that help create more value.
1. Aesthetic appeal - Is it pretty, powerful, soothing, impressive, memorable, joyful, comforting, funny? Do I like it? Is it "me?" You'll notice these are all emotions of the viewer. That's what art does if it's good - it evokes emotions. Here are some of the decorative aspects of stock certificates that most people appreciate:
-The vignette(s). One or more of these pictures can be found on most certificates. Vignettes are usually made from original etchings and cover many different subjects and scenes. Many are so detailed that they can show a wide, complex harbor scene, a busy western town or the individual feathers on an American Bald Eagle.
-The border. Borders are often quite ornate and "frame" the certificate. They can be intaglio printed, which results in a precise 3-D effect. Some may have extra vignettes woven into the design or intertwined in filigree.
-The writing. In the old days, certificates were filled in by hand. In that period, beautiful hand writing was a source of pride, so older documents sometimes look like practiced calligraphy samples.
-The extras. Certificates may have one or more of the following: a company seal (embossed), revenue or transfer stamps (stuck onto the front or back), redemption coupons (for interest or dividend payments), an attached stub (similar to a check stub for registration), under prints (a light design seemingly in the background), sophisticated color tone usage (gradients, realism, dimensional)
-The impression. This goes back to the emotions evoked. Does the overall certificate strike you? Is it one you would be proud to own or display?
2. Signatures - This is similar to the "writing" above, but this is special. Who wrote it? Original, hand written signatures of well known people (Rockefeller, Houdini, Edison, Disney...) are usually in high demand. Even their printed signatures can have incremental value because it is a document from an organization they were affiliated with at a certain time in history. If you research names on certificates, you will find fascinating stories behind them that you probably never learned in history class.
3. Scarcity - This is trickier than it seems. In general, the rarer a document is the more valuable it is, but not always. Take railroad certificates. Relatively, there are lots of them. But, relativley, there are also lots of railroad certificate collectors.
And there are people who collect other types of railroad memorabilia and decide to collect a few railroad certificates. And there are stamp collectors that also collect certificates that have stamps on them.
There are also many people trying to fill in collection themes (geographic, company lineage, varieties, vignette subject...). So a certificate may have more samples available than another, but still be more valuable because the demand is higher.
4. Condition - Most of the time, as with any collectible, the better shape a certificate is in, the more valuable. Very old certificates almost always show some signs of aging and wear (fold creases, fading, rough edges, cancellation marks or punches...). After all, how would you look after 150 years? But excessive marring (heavy stains, splits, holes, tears...) diminish value.
5. Age - Usually, the older the better. Early certificates are often rarer, have more character, have interesting vignettes and have historical significance.
6. History - Every old stock certificate is literally a unique piece of history. Many collectors become history buffs in the process of researching the people and stories behind their certificates. You can learn how towns were named, the quirky way newspaper stories were written long ago, why the mining labor disputes erupted, how railroads became the arteries and veins of America, the trials and joys of Old West living, the crazy inventor ideas that birthed major industries, and lots more.
So these are six major stock certificate characteristics that create value. Add in the overall fact that there is a finite supply of antique stock certificates and, currently, a growing demand, and you have a beautiful Supply/Demand scenario - that's how value increases.
(Disclaimer: No one should promote stock certificates as an investment. You should collect them because you enjoy doing so, and if they happen to increase in value, that just makes it more fun.)
Scripophily (the collecting of antique stock certificates) only got its name and wide recognition as a legitimate collecting field about forty years ago. So, while there are plenty of high-value certificates, there are even more that are very affordable. Enjoy them.
About the Author
Visit http://www.Collectibles-Articles.com for hundreds of free articles on collectibles topics. Find images, values and research tools for Scripophily (the collecting of antique stock certificates) at http://www.RealStockCertificates.com
How can a 16 year old buy stock in less than a month?
i am a 16 year old living in Washington D.C who is seriously considering buying between $50 and $250 dollars worth of Airbus stock. i need to do this by March. how can i go about doing that?
Talk to your parents first. Then, tell them what you know about the DRIP program that Airbus has and the research that you have done to make this investment. Tell them the sound structure, fundamentals,P/E, Cashflow, P/Book, Earnings Growth, sector growth, debt reduction, and Exchange gain of this stock and they will help.
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How Does a Stock Market Crash?
Have you ever wondered "how does a stock market cash" or "is it possible to take advantage of a stock market crash"?
Did you know that it is easier to make money during a stock market crash than it is during a raging bull market - Why? Because stock investing is driven by two emotions
FEAR & GREED
If you look at the stock market history & old stock market graphs you will notice that the stock market index falls much faster than it rises. There is an old saying that "the bulls need to walk up the stairs but the bears jump out the window". So once again let's look at the question how does a stock market crash.
The main reason behind a stock market crash is Fear. Whether it was the stock market crash of 1929, the great depression or the current credit crisis that we are going through, whether it is in the USA, Australia or Iceland the main reason behind the crash is fear.
When investing in shares or getting stock market advice people often forget to think about all of the other investors who are doing the exact same thing. Plus the majority of money invested into the market doesn't come from mum and dad investors but huge corporations and fund managers.
Whenever you buy shares you are buying them at a time when other investors have done two things
1.They have already bought the shares and are sitting on a profit or a loss.
2.They have already sold the shares with a profit and a loss and are looking at the right time to buy them again.
Taking this into account, let's pretend that you buy share at $20. 6 months ago this share was trading at $14 and it has slowly climbed to $20 and you are hoping that it will continue to rise. You know own the share just like the all the investors who had already bought it but there is one big difference - Theses other investors are all sitting on profit. So they are now watching the stock price like a hawk because the last thing they want is a stock market crash to come along and wipe out their profit. To make things even worse most investors aren't only thinking about the profit but they have already spent the profit in their heads. So when the share price starts to turn around you think "it's ok, I'm sure it will come good" - whereas they are thinking "oh no I don't want to lose my profit (new car) I better sell. This fear of losing profit starts to grow and more and more people start jump off the bandwagon - Apart from you who has bought at the top, your still saying "I think it's going to turn around".
So how does a stock market crash? Of course there are many contributing factors but fear is most definitely the biggest. Unfortunately for most investors they end up losing money because they typically buy when the market is high and sell when the market is low.
So how can you not fall into that trap? Simply by knowledge, education and experience. No one will be able to time the market perfectly (buy at the low and sell at the peak), not even Warren Buffet does that. But if you can buy during the bottom 30% of the market and sell during the top 30% you will go along way to becoming a successful investor.
What about making money when the market is crashing? I said before that you can actually make money during this period and that is true. Why? Because fear is much easier to predict than greed therefore the market moves quicker. So if you know a few very simple strategies you will actually be able to make huge profits in a quarter of the time.
So maybe the question you should be asking yourself is not how does the stock market crash but how can I take advantage of a stock market crash?
About the Author
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