I found a stock certificate and want to know if it's worth anything?

Question

The certificate was issued to my father on August 23, 1969 by a company called Religious Book Discount House, Inc-address:
P.O. Box 2211 , Wilmington Delaware 19899.
The certificate shows 480 shares issued to Eli Dolgae and the certificate is numbered 19.

Answer 1

http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?p=%22Religious+Book+Discount+House%22&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-501&x=wrt&u=www.sovgracepub.com/SGPFirsts.htm&w=%22religious+book+discount+house%22&d=Z0dhqOxsN--5&icp=1&.intl=us
It's now Sovereign Grace Publisher, which I think is now private. This means they bought back the shares at some point. The stock won't grow, but you are owed the amount they bought it back at.

Answer 2

Is there a CUSIP number on the certificate? If so, your broker may be able to track the CUSIP number to see what the certificate now represents. However, given that your father received stock certificate number 19, there is a decent chance that Religious Book Discount House was a privately-held company when the shares were issued to him. You can try to see what became of the corporation through the Secretary of State of it's state of incorporation (which should be listed on the face of the certificate). Unless there is a CUSIP number though your best bet may be to speak to a lawyer or a talented corporate paralegal who can help trace the shares - tracing privately held shares can be a little convoluted if you aren't a professional.

Answer 3

There should be a transfer agent listed on the certificate. The transfer agent is usually a big bank so it's probably merged and merged again but it will still exist. You'll have to do some research to find it's current name/form but they're the ones to talk to.