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OT: How to get data on old stock certificates

This is just barely on-topic for this newsgroup. After I get the information I am seeking, I /will/ be tracking it in Quicken.

I have in my possession two old stock certificates. They are for shares in a company I worked for some years ago. One certificate is dated November of 1993 and the other April of 1994. Unfortunately, my recordkeeping practices of that time were ... um ... poor. So I have no record of the price paid for these shares.

Is there any online resource through which I could check the share price of a stock on a particular past date? The resources I typically frequent don't allow for specifying a query date. They just give the current price of a stock or mutual fund.

If I cannot determine the cost basis and wish to sell these shares, what is the cost basis I would use for tax purposes?

While I don't know the exact price at which these shares were purchased, I do seem to remember that one lot was purchased at between $35 and $39 per share. The other lot was somewhere around $27. This is, of course, sad considering that this particular stock now rarely sells for more than $6 a share. So if I do sell, it would be for a loss. But at least if I have the actual cost basis, I could use this sale to my advantage: 1) get rid of worthless stocks and 2) help reduce the year's tax burden.

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

-- Steve Koterski Atlanta, Georgia

"Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you and act accordingly."

-- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

Reply to
Steve Koterski
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Have you checked Yahoo-Finance? They have historical prices back quite a few years.

Reply to
JM

Thanks.

Wow! You're fast. You posted a reply a mere 18 minutes after my original posting.

I am not familiar with Yahoo. Do you have a URL to the entry point? In the meantime, I will poke around to try and find it myself.

-- Steve Koterski Atlanta, Georgia

"Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you and act accordingly."

-- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

Reply to
Steve Koterski

Oh, that's hilarious. The URL is...

formatting link
How much more obvious can you get? I found it by a search on Google with the query...

yahoo finance

Gotta love technology.

-- Steve Koterski Atlanta, Georgia

"Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you and act accordingly."

-- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

Reply to
Steve Koterski

If Yahoo can't help, try looking for a website for the company itself. Some of them run a substantial amount of information for investors, usually under a "Shareholder facilities" or some such.

Reply to
Al Reeve

Have you tried contacting the brokerage firm to see what info they can provide? Even if they've been acquired, the successor firm would have records.

OR, if you bought directly from your former employer, their HR/Payroll departments might still have records.

Dan

Reply to
danbrown

Thanks for the additional suggestions. I have already gotten the information I needed from the Yahoo site, per the first respondents suggestion.

The shares were purchased directly from the company, through their Stock Purchase Plan. Maybe the company still has that data, maybe not. They have had so many lay-offs over the years (one of the reasons I quit) that the people there then are probably gone. It wouldn't surprise me if the data were long lost.

-- Steve Koterski Atlanta, Georgia

"Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you and act accordingly."

-- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

Reply to
Steve Koterski

Hi, Steve.

Then you probably paid something less than the price quoted in your Yahoo reference.

That reasoning does NOT follow! A company does not throw out records just because somebody has quit! Especially a public company whose stock price is available to Yahoo.

You should at least contact the company and ask. I'll bet they can find the information if the IRS agent asks! Even if it is a few years in the future, when your return is being audited.

RC

Reply to
R. C. White

Look at your old tax records for the year you purchased the stock. The company would be required to send you a statement documenting the number of shares issued thru the stock purchase plan and the basis of the shares for tax purposes. You might have kept the record with the tax records........

Reply to
jsmith

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