Old Stock Certificate Question

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dguad4
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Old Stock Certificate Question

Post by dguad4 »

I am doing some initial research for a family member who has found some old stock certificates. It is apparent they will have to take them in to a local broker but I did find some information and had a question for you knowledgeable bogleheads.

Orginal Name: Joslyn Mfg. and Supply Co
Location: Chicago, Illinois
CUSIP: 481070100

I searched the Illiois corporation website and found out after a number name changes / mergers, the lastest and active name is Joslyn Holding Company. This happens to be a subsidiary of Danaher Corp.

Stock price: DHR (NYSE) $78.73 0.00 (0.00%)

My question is how does old stock certificates / shares work for subs? Could it be possible that they are worth the full value of the Parent Co?
shawcroft
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An Old Stock Certificate Question

Post by shawcroft »

Interesting discovery. Any idea how long ago the original stock ( evidenced by the certificate) was purchased? The certificate should have a date on it which shows when it was issued- not necessarily the same as the date the stock was purchased. But it will tell you the stock was purchased no later than that date.
If Danaher (or any predecessor company) purchased Joslyn, there had to have been an exchange value established. If you can find out when the stock was originally purchased, you could probably build up that information.
The Danaher corporate secretary's office or their transfer agent might be able to help in this regard.
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abuss368
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Re: Old Stock Certificate Question

Post by abuss368 »

Correct. You will need a brokerage account to deposit and then trade.

Essentially, the basis must be established. Were the shares gifted (i.e. basis of the original purchaser) or were they purchased by the current owner. There should be information online that would allow one to calculate basis. Worst case is zero basis.
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prudent
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Re: Old Stock Certificate Question

Post by prudent »

Found a reference to Danaher buying the stock of Joslyn Corp (assuming that's the same company you are referring to) in 1995 for $34 a share.
http://google.brand.edgar-online.com/EF ... Hhot2LHFG7
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dguad4
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Re: Old Stock Certificate Question

Post by dguad4 »

Thank you all for the replies, I do not have the certificates at work so I will have to double check when I get home.
shawcroft wrote:Any idea how long ago the original stock ( evidenced by the certificate) was purchased?
Mid-80's
abuss368 wrote:Were the shares gifted (i.e. basis of the original purchaser) or were they purchased by the current owner.
I believe they were gifted as part of an inheritance.
prudent wrote:Found a reference to Danaher buying the stock of Joslyn Corp (assuming that's the same company you are referring to) in 1995 for $34 a share.http://google.brand.edgar-online.com/EF ... Hhot2LHFG7
Great thanks! If they were purchaseda at $34 a share does that mean the # of shares are based off of that $34 value or current stock price of Danaher (~78)? And what about splits (it looks like there were 3 since '95).
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Re: Old Stock Certificate Question

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

Since it was a cash tender offer of $34 per share of Josyln Mfg. Co. - then it Is the number of shares as evidenced by the stock certificate assuming no claim was already made that such certificates were lost, multiplied by the $34 will equal your amount due. Sorry, $78 is not in the cards for you today or any other day in the future. Stock splits do not apply to you, as only cash consideration of $34 per share was offered and accepted by all of the voting class of shareholders. Even though you did not apparently tender your shares in time, you are not entitled to any more compensation than was received by all of the other shareholders - $34 in cash per individual share. It's unfortunate that you waited 19 years to collect, you've missed out on 19 years of compounding.
Last edited by Grt2bOutdoors on Tue Jul 01, 2014 2:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Old Stock Certificate Question

Post by abuss368 »

dguad4 wrote:
abuss368 wrote:Were the shares gifted (i.e. basis of the original purchaser) or were they purchased by the current owner.
I believe they were gifted as part of an inheritance.

Look at Internal Revenue Code section 1014 - Basis of property acquired from a decedent.
Last edited by abuss368 on Wed Jul 02, 2014 12:33 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Old Stock Certificate Question

Post by JW-Retired »

An inheritance is not a gift. The inheritor gets a step-up in cost basis ........ to the value on the date the former owner died. Or in some cases 6-months later.
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Re: Old Stock Certificate Question

Post by Epsilon Delta »

In some cases the unclaimed tender will have been turned over to a states lost property or unclaimed funds office. It may be worth checking the name of the person who owned the stock certificate in the state they lived in at the time.
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Re: Old Stock Certificate Question

Post by Watty »

It is also possible that the original owner had misplaced the certificates and has already redeemed the stock when the buyout was done or they may have gotten replacement certificates years ago.

My mother-in-law gave my son a couple of hundred dollars in a bank stock. Somewhere over the years there were stock splits where additional certificates were issued but somehow they were missing when my son was getting near college age and we wanted to sell the stock. I was in the process of researching how to replace them, which was not hard but would have cost some money, when the company was bought. As part of the cash buyout they had a simple, and free, form to fill out to complete the process if you did not have the certificates.
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Re: Old Stock Certificate Question

Post by bnes »

  • See http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/h ... oslyn.html
  • Check https://www.unclaimed.org/ to see if the stock ended up escheated to the State. Use the address of the original owner for the search.
  • Contact Danaher and ask who the transfer agent is. Hopefully it's computershare, since they are really competent.
  • It is unlikely these are worth the full Danaher stock value. The purchase may have been for cash, or for fractional shares. A 1:1 is unlikely.
  • For calculating your basis, you need to ask the transfer agent the value as of the date of death.
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dguad4
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Re: Old Stock Certificate Question

Post by dguad4 »

Thanks to everyone for all the information. I have passed on my research and your reponses to my Aunt.
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