01 July 2011

Ancient shares

I was rummaging through my antiques today and I found stock certificates that I snatched up one day for a nickel a piece. I have two, one from 1914 for 45 shares and one from 1918 for 10. Adjusted for inflation, the first was purchased for a sum of $101,683.80 (sobbing a little bit). The second reads as "Without Nominal or Par Value."

The first company is the "Resistal Fabrics Company", and the second is "Semter Limited." The first was purchased by a William Kootz in the presence of William A. Otto, and the second was purchased by Otto himself.

I've tried to track down the firms and names on the certificates using the great and powerful internet, but to no avail. The companies were most likely bought up ages ago, or simply went out of business. Hypothetically, if I were to find the currently existing company that bought up those mentioned on my certificates, I could feasibly sell these shares. Which would be a nice, but highly unlikely situation.

Either way, here they are: