# Can I redeem a stock certificate that is 60+ years old and the company they belonged to has since been bought out by another company? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2025, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888 "2025-05-05T06:06:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/41 "2025-05-06T00:47:15Z")
It looks to me like one share. The certificate it was printed on says in the corner that it can’t be for more than 100 shares which presumably is to avoid fraud by someone trying to change the amount ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/42 "2025-05-06T00:52:05Z")
My guess too but then I can’t think, knowing my brother, that he’d bother to buy one share. Seems odd. But, he was a bit odd too so…maybe? Hard to guess. Also seems a lot of work and effort to send such a certificate for one share but I dunno…it was a different time back then. The weird way it is done suggests to me that either it was 100 (i.e. you bought the max for that certificate) or 1. I have NO idea. ---
**Author:** ![andrewm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/43 "2025-05-06T00:53:57Z")
It can’t be one hundred, because the engraved template says “LESS than 100 shares” (their emphasis). “\*1\*”, “\*ONE\*” and “0 TENS” / “1 UNITS” (punched on the right) all clearly indicate one single share. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/44 "2025-05-06T00:56:26Z")
Good point. I was (optimistically) thinking “ONE” might be the max of that piece of paper. Seems crazy to issue that whole thing for one share and seems crazy my brother would do that but…there it is. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/45 "2025-05-06T01:00:57Z")
If you bought one share, they’d have to issue that to you. No way around it. He may have been awarded it or won it somehow. Sometimes people would buy a single share of a company because that entitled them to get a copy of a prospectus and to attend the annual meeting and ask questions and be a gadfly. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/46 "2025-05-06T01:18:02Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > The certificate it was printed on says in the corner that it can’t be for more than 100 shares which presumably is to avoid fraud by someone trying to change the amount I think it is because back in that time you had to buy stock in blocks of 100. By denoting a certificate was lessthan 100, it was clear that was not a block. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/47 "2025-05-06T01:22:44Z")
That makes sense. You might buy $1000 worth of stock which would be a few blocks plus a remainder. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/48 "2025-05-06T04:49:52Z")
Looking at the right hand margin suggests that it’s a one share cert as well. The purchaser might have bought this token share to receive a [shareholder perk](https://www.ii.co.uk/investing-with-ii/shareholder-perks). Or the purchaser may have owned, say, 100 shares and have signed up with a DRIP program ([dividend reinvestment plan](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dividendreinvestmentplan.asp)), whereby dividends are paid out in shares rather than in cash. Back during the 1960s, brokers charged stiff commissions for stock purchases and sales: shares received via DRIPs were commission free. The purchaser may have sold the bulk of their stock, but retained the one share certificate as a keepsake. Or the cert could have been misplaced. Anyway we’re discussing a possible $600 upside minus taxes. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/49 "2025-05-06T17:20:10Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Anyway we’re discussing a possible $600 upside minus taxes. True. Per share. The OP mentions they have several certificates. Perhaps others are for more than one share. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/50 "2025-05-06T21:31:14Z")
Note that the ticker symbol was “IPC” (not “IPL”), and it may have been recycled after the merger/buyout, so unless the stock split info specifically refers to Interstate, it could be some other company. Alliant has had one 2-for-1 split. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/51 "2025-05-06T22:52:21Z")
FTR, [splithistory.com](http://splithistory.com) has no record of IPC splits. So we’re down to ~~1.1\*90 = $100 per original share. Of course the stock may not have made its way into their records. ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/52 "2025-05-06T23:33:20Z")
I am, strangely, way too invested in this thread. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/53 "2025-05-07T00:03:58Z")
So you’re not going to split? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/54 "2025-05-07T13:50:18Z")
I was in a similar situation with stock certificates dated 1970. It’s entirely possible the shares have already been redeemed (e.g., certificate reported lost, then redeemed for cash or electronic shares, then the certificates were found again). The value of certificated stocks do not typically just evaporate if an exchange offer goes unclaimed, but after a few years, the value is often turned over to the state unclaimed property office. The first thing I’d do is to search the unclaimed property website of _every_ state the registered owner lived in from the date on the certificate onward. You can conveniently search all states simultaneously at [https://missingmoney.com/](https://missingmoney.com/) In my experience, claiming the funds is relatively painless even with substantial money at stake, provided you are the registered owner or the sole heir of the registered owner. Simply having the paper certificate in your possession is not enough; you have to prove you are the registered owner or that registered owner signed it over to you, or that you are the heir of the deceased registered owner. If the registered owner is deceased and there are multiple heirs, the state will cut a check to the estate (if the estate has not been closed) or separate checks to each of the heirs. If the funds aren’t at any state unclaimed property office, I would next contact the transfer agent. ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/55 "2025-05-07T17:13:28Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > So you’re not going to split ? I feel bonded to the topic. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/56 "2025-05-07T19:29:14Z")
[![](https://cdn.iconscout.com/icon/free/png-512/free-pillory-icon-download-in-svg-png-gif-file-formats--prisoner-punishment-penalty-crime-medieval-pack-culture-religion-festivals-icons-1512011.png?f=webp&w=256) ](https://cdn.iconscout.com/icon/free/png-512/free-pillory-icon-download-in-svg-png-gif-file-formats--prisoner-punishment-penalty-crime-medieval-pack-culture-religion-festivals-icons-1512011.png?f=webp&w=256) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/57 "2025-05-07T20:24:20Z")
> [@Noelq](#): > > I feel bonded to the topic. That’s crazy to be so glued to something on the internet. Maybe you should take stock of what you follow so closely. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/58 "2025-05-07T22:40:06Z")
It’s amazing how many people are putting optional puns out there. I’d write to call them on it, but this thread is right on the money. So there’s no upside. ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/59 "2025-05-07T22:52:33Z")
The topic definitely holds my interest. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888/60 "2025-05-08T16:55:01Z")
I’d advise the OP to bear down and get the needed information. But show restraint; don’t be a bull in a china shop. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-redeem-a-stock-certificate-that-is-60-years-old-and-the-company-they-belonged-to-has-since-been-bought-out-by-another-company/1017888.md?page=4)