Are old stock certificates worthless?

A reader asked a very interesting question from INQUIRER.net and James Lago of Westlink Global Equities Inc. gave a very interesting reply:

I am writing for my cousin whose wife inherited some NYSE-issued PLDT and NY Steamboat Company stocks from her mother who died in a house fire in Las Pinas about five years ago. It was said that her mother laid on the stocks as the house was burning to protect it, so that the stock certificates edges are burned but they are still readable and intact. The stocks were bought in NY in the 80s. I contacted the NYSE who told me to contact a NY broker. My questions are:

1. Can the PLDT stocks be claimed locally? If yes where and how?
2. Do they need a lawyer to prove the wife is the heir? I am afraid the lawyer and broker fees may be worth more than the stocks whose face value when bought I think were just about $300.
3. Is there a way for us to determine via the internet how much the stocks are worth now?

Read the rest of the article here.

James, one of the few analysts I know who writes clearly and effectively, advised Nilo Ocampo, the reader, to talk to PLDT’s Investor Relations in Manila. That’s the quickest way to get answers.

This is the person you want to contact:

Anna Isabel V. Bengzon
Head, PLDT Investor Relations Center
12/F Ramon Cojuangco Building
Makati Avenue, Makati City
Philippines
Telephone: (632) 816-8024
Facsimile: (632) 810-7138
E-mail: pldt.ir@pldt.com.ph

What’s more interesting is whether the New York Steamboat Co. stock certificates in question can still be turned into cash. Best bet is they are as good as trash, but if lightning strikes and you are lucky, old stock certificates may actually be worth a lot of money!

This article from USA Today says one share of Haloid was worth $1 million in 2000 — although you won’t find Haloid in the list of stocks in any stock exchange. That’s because Haloid changed its name to Xerox in 1961.

Even if those stock certificates do not have any corporate value anymore, at least check whether they have any collectible value.

You don’t even have to have really old scrips. BusinessWeek says even dot.com company shares that may be worth nothing now, can be a collectible item in the future. So keep searching those musty trunks or boxes for trash that can be turned to cash.

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