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Example Stock Certificate

All stock certificates have a Serial Number or at least a place to put one.  Most are pre-printed serial numbers and in some older issues they were hand written.  Usually the serial number is numeric but in some issues there are alphabetic characters as well.  In most cases the older stocks were printed with a ledger slip that was to the left, the ledger slip would have the same serial number.  The clerk who would issue shares to an investor would write the shareholders name, number of shares, and date of purchase on the ledger slip so that the company had a record of shareholder on the ledger slip.  The stock certificate would then be cut apart from the ledger slip and given to the shareholder.

Company Name will be found on all stock certificates.  This is the name of the corporation that the investor is investing in and taking a part in the ownership of the company.  The company name is generally at the top or middle of the certificate.  Usually the company name was printed to stand out with large, ornate lettering.

Stock shares are financial certificates that are registered to specific shareholders.  On older certificates the name of the Share Owner, or shareholder, was written on the certificate by a clerk or corporate officer when the shares were purchased.  Over time, the use typewriters was used to make these entries.  You will find individuals names, bank names, other corporations as owners of these investments.

Vignettes, meaning a decorative design, come in all shapes and sizes.  Some can be quite ornate.  Some shares as in the example have multiple artwork on the certificate.  Some certificates have no vignettes.  Printing costs was a factor in how ornate a company's stock shares would be as these were printed from metal engraved printing plates.

The State of Incorporation will be found on all stock certificates.  Corporations are formed under the laws of a specific state in the United States.  Many certificates will show multiple states where the corporation was doing business and had incorporated.

Shares Issued by the Company, is the number of shares that the corporation is making available to investors during a release of shares to the public.  In the example, this company was selling one and a half million shares at one dollar each to raise a million and a half dollars.  This number does not represent how many shares that were actually sold.  The dollar total value printed is based on the face or par value of the share at time of issue which was one dollar per share and selling all shares.

Shares Owned indicates the number of shares that the investor bought.  On some certificates, as in our example, the clerk of the company wrote in the number of shares using pen and ink.  The share holder bought 500 shares in this company.  Over time some companies began pre-printed certificates for 100 share investments, known as a round lot.  Other certificates were printed for less than 100 shares which are called an odd lot.  The two types of certificates would be printed differently perhaps using different colors of ink.

Terms and Conditions is where the corporation lays out the rules for the ownership of a stock.  In the case of the example the terms and conditions are fairly simple and mostly cover transfer of ownership.

Most stock shares will indicate a Holding Bank or registrar.  These are investment banks that would hold and sell shares of the security.  An investor could purchase shares directly from the company at their main office or from the investment bank.

Share Price is indicated on the example certificate.  Some certificates will use the phrase Par Value.  This was used to indicate the minimum amount that the share would be sold for.  But this is just printed on the share and did not really indicate the price of a share.  The actual amount that an investor would pay could have been more or less than indicated Share or Par price.  The practice of printing par value has been mostly discontinued.

The name of the Printer can be found on most Scripophily certificates.  Printers varied in the quality of their printing of certificates.  Some collectors pick their certificates from specific printers.

Officer Signatures for the corporation selling shares are found on stock certificates.  Older certificates will have actual signatures of the officers.  Typically the President and Secretary of the corporation signed the share, sometimes the Treasurer would sign, sometimes all three.  Modern certificates have facsimile signatures that are pre-printed.

The example stock certificate has been Cancelled.  This generally means that the owner of the share redeemed the share and sold their interest in this company.  In this example though, the shares were exchanged to another companies shares as indicated by the stamp saying that the shares were Exchanged for RM Mines Company Stock.  Most likely RM Mines bought out Round Mountain Mining Company and this share holder became part owner of a new, probably bigger corporation.

Date of Purchase indicates when the share was purchased and registered on the books of the corporation.  Sometimes this date is important.  Some companies would pay a dividend to their share owners.  Frequently the company would declare a dividend for share owners prior to a specific date.