Scripophily is new compared with collectibles like stamps, coins and banknotes

Scripophily Collecting and Information on Old Stocks and Bonds

We cannot do better than quote the reasons for collecting given by some of our members -

"I get a thrill from holding stock certificates and bonds that have been handled by great financiers and world figures such as John D Rockefeller, Thomas Edison, Nathan M Rothschild, Walt Disney, even Goethe and King Charles I - before he was beheaded !"

"I have always been a railroad fan, especially steam locos. I collect all kinds of railroadiana, and stocks and bonds are among the most pictorial."

"Scripophily is new compared with collectibles like stamps, coins and banknotes. This means I can research angles that no-one has looked at before, and I feel I am becoming a recognised expert in my specialty."

"My Civil War collection would not be complete without at least a representative group of Confederate bonds."

"As a paper money collector, I like to find banking, railroad and State stocks and bonds with the same vignettes and names as I have on my notes."

"I love to handle the ephemera of the hopes of rebels, frauds and romantics from different times and continents - plans for airplanes that would never fly, Walker's invasion of Nicaragua, Kossuth's Hungary, the Spanish Carlists, Gregor MacGregor's adventures in Honduras, many others."

"I adore the artistry and colour of some of the picture-size Belgian, French, Spanish, Portuguese shares. Plenty of art nouveau. Even some Mucha."

"My city was built on coal. I am making a collection of coal mine stocks and bonds, and other industries from my region."

"Scripophily is truly a world interest. It makes a reason to travel to meetings and bourses. And I exchange news by email, phone and fax with interesting and charming people from all over."

"I enjoy the hunt. Besides, this is early days for scripophily, so I am not likely to be caught on the peak of a fashion. And how else can I buy a million dollars of stocks?"

Continue to learn more about scripophily, please visit Scripophily.

Dotcom shake-out's huge paper profits

SHARES in internet companies might not be worth the paper they are written on, but a new breed of dotcom investor is betting that the paper itself will turn out to be highly valuable.

The market for collecting and trading stock certificates is hotting up, with some collectors anticipating that paraphernalia from the internet gold rush will one day be regarded as museum pieces. Many certificates already cost more than the shares of the now defunct businesses ever did.

Last week Webvan Group, the internet supermarket that was going to shake up the US's sluggish grocery market, went bust after racking up losses of $829m. On the day it filed for bankruptcy protection, the shares stood at 5 cents each and now trade at well under a cent, compared with a 52-week high of $9.37.

Yet a Webvan stock certificate fetches $79.95 at Scripophily.com, a website that caters for the growing interest in this market. Scripophily means collecting cancelled stocks and bonds and first emerged as a hobby in the 1970s.

Bob Kerstein, the owner of Scripophily, said: "People are fascinated by this appearance of success which all of a sudden came cratering down." He declined to give details of the state of his own business but said sales next year will breach $1m.

Another failed dotcom that is still attracting investor's interest is eToys.com. At the height of what can now only be described as madness, eToys had a market value approaching $10 billion. Last February it filed for bankruptcy after admitting liabilities of $274m which it had no chance of meeting.

A statement to the stock exchange read: "In the light of these facts, it has concluded that its outstanding equity securities, including both its common stock and its Series D preferred stock, have no value. The company strongly encouraged anyone considering an investment in these securities to consider its determination that they are worthless."

They actually trade at 99/100ths of a cent, down from a now ludicrous-looking peak of $85. Yet the stock certificate is retailing for $139.95, and that's under a special offer.

The eye-catching document was clearly expensively produced - as befits an era when money was spent with complete abandon. Scripophily calls it "beautifully engraved" and boasting an "ornate border with a vignette of the famous company logo".

It is not just stock certificates that are being bought as mementoes of the dotcom era. Online auction site eBay sold a delivery bag from Kozmo.com for $76. One of the scooters used by the company - slogan, We'll Be Right Over - fetched more than $1,000. A Kozmo fridge magnet will cost you $15.

Other possible dotcom treasures include certificates for Pets.com and Garden.com, which are both said to be elaborately colourful with much sought-after logos.

The shift towards electronic trading in shares adds interest and value to certificates from the internet age, say aficionados. Increasingly, investors are allowing their brokers to look after the paperwork and hold shares through a nominee account, which means they never see the certificates in the first place.

Pierre Bonneau, at Stock Search International, says only a fifth of investors bother to ask for paper shares. "Technology will be the last business boom to issue paper stock. That makes today's certificates extremely valuable," he said.

What this means for the thousands of internet investors nursing burnt fingers and traumatised bank accounts from doomed investments in companies with names like daftidea.com is not clear. But it might be worth hanging on to the certificates rather than following your natural inclination to rip them up and jump on the pieces.

One day they might appear on the Antiques Roadshow as a piece of financial history, from a time when 19-year-olds on roller blades became paper millionaires overnight.

Continue to learn more about scripophily, please visit Telegraph.