Collectible Stocks and Bonds from North American Railroads             by Terry Cox

A guidebook and catalog of prices (I neither buy nor sell stocks and bonds)
Search hundreds of pages on this web site for information about collecting railroad stocks and bonds.
 

Click to search the special Coxrail database. Information for 23,700+ certificates from over 7,400 North American railroad companies.
  Let's cut to the chase –
What you will might receive when selling certificates 		 

The prices listed in this catalog represent retail prices that customers should expect to pay if they buy single certificates from reputable and experienced dealers in the United States of America.

If you want to SELL certificates, you must realize that you will be selling at wholesale rates. Wholesale prices are usually half or less of retail. Expect common certificates to fetch lower percentages than rarities.

This table is a very rough approximation of potential sales. Your results WILL vary . Your results may differ substantially from these estimates. The fewer certificates you sell, the more unpredictable your results will be.

What percentage of retail to expect when selling
Selling how?
common certificates
scarce certificates
eBay (US)
50%
40%
to professional U.S. dealers
35%
60%
to professional European dealers
40%
70%
to amateur sellers
40%
50%
through professional American auction houses
40%
70%
through professional German/Belgian/Swiss auction houses
70%
120%
through other professional European auction houses
65%
110%

Notes:

General rule Remember, every so-called rule in this hobby has many exceptions.
eBay Several years of analysis suggests that buyers often over overpay for common certificates and underpay for rarities. Do not forget you must pay insertion fees and commissions based on final prices realized. If selling for yourself, use good photos and describe certificates as well as you possibly can including serial numbers, shares, folds, and conditions. Accept PayPal and guarantee your items.
professional dealers Because they attract loyal and experienced collectors, professionals need a constant supply of scarce and rare certificates for which they tend to pay generously. Most are already suffocating in common material and try to avoid buying more.
amateur sellers Amateurs tend to pay more for common material in order to bolster their inventories. In order to decrease risks of getting caught with expensive material they cannot sell, ameturs tend to pay less for scarce and rare certificates.
professional auction houses Professionals attract the highest classes of collectors and consequently attract higher bids. Only about 30% to 60% of lots will sell. You must pay seller's commissions for items that sell. Discuss illustrations and how to handle unsold lots. Common items are usually combined into multi-item lots to save time and entice better sales.
European sales Prices are substantially higher in Europe than the U.S. and highest in Germany. That discrepancy represents fewer U.S. items for sale and a poor rate of exchange between the dollar and the Euro. A stronger U.S. dollar will decrease the discrepancy.

 
 

 
Papermental logo Help support this free site! Please visit my eBay store called Papermental by Terry Cox. My inventory includes (or will include) railroad ephemera, newspapers, magazines, engravings, and all sorts of paper collectibles. The current inventory is about 1,700 items building toward an estimated 3,000.

Please contact me if you have certificates not yet listed. (See How You Can Help) Try to limit images to 250 Kb each.

Please contact the many fine dealers on my dealers page to buy certificates.