A few types of temporary certificates are commonly offered to collectors. They include:

	Interim receipts
	Temporary stock certificates
	Temporary bonds

Most of those certificates carry a large amount of text explaining their purposes. Their purposes, however, varied widely between companies. In general, temporary certificates were large lithographed receipts for stock or bond purchases. Many functioned as stocks or bonds prior to delivery of actual engraved certificates.

Essentially all temporary certificates carry pre-printed company names.