To cash in a stock certificate, you confirm the shares still have value, get a Medallion Signature Guarantee on the back of the certificate or on a separate stock power form, and send the paperwork to the company’s transfer agent or to a brokerage firm, which cancels the paper, records your ownership electronically, and lets you sell. Most people finish in a few weeks. Lost certificates, inherited shares, and companies that no longer exist under their old name take longer.
Confirm the Shares Still Have Value
Before paying for signature guarantees and postage, find out whether the company on the certificate still exists and whether your shares are worth anything today. Companies rename themselves, merge, and go bankrupt. An old name on the paper doesn’t automatically mean the shares are dead.
Start with the CUSIP number printed on the certificate. That nine-character code identifies the security and its issuer, and it is the fastest way to look up current status.1Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. About CUSIP Numbers If a transfer agent is named on the certificate, contact them. If that agent no longer exists, contact the state agency that handles incorporations in the state where the company was originally incorporated. A brokerage with a research department can also help trace the certificate.2Investor.gov. Old Stock and Bond Certificates
If the company was acquired, your shares may have converted into shares of the acquirer at a set exchange ratio, and following that chain sometimes lands on something worth real money. If the company dissolved in bankruptcy and never reorganized, the investment value is gone, though some old certificates still have collector value for their artwork or history.2Investor.gov. Old Stock and Bond Certificates
Get a Medallion Signature Guarantee
Transfer agents will not process a certificate without a Medallion Signature Guarantee. This is a special stamp from a participating financial institution that confirms your identity and your authority to transfer the shares, and SEC rules let transfer agents require it from an institution in a recognized guarantee program.3eCFR. 17 CFR 240.17Ad-15 – Signature Guarantees The guarantor is on the hook financially if the signature turns out to be forged, which is why a notary stamp will not do.
For most people, the easiest source is a bank or credit union where you already have an account. You visit a branch in person with government-issued photo ID and the original certificate. Banks typically charge a fee, which varies. The name on the certificate must exactly match your current ID, so marriage or a court-ordered name change may require extra documents.
Each Medallion stamp carries a letter prefix that caps the dollar value it covers. At the low end, an “E” or “F” stamp covers up to $100,000. A “C” stamp covers $500,000, and the scale runs up to a “Z” prefix for transactions over $10 million.4Computershare. What Is a Medallion Guarantee If your shares are worth more than the stamp covers, the transfer agent will reject it. Ask the institution what level of stamp they issue before you make the trip.
The Stock Power Form
Along with the guarantee, you usually complete a stock power form. It assigns the shares to the new owner or account without you having to endorse the back of the certificate itself. You fill in the company name, the CUSIP, and the number of shares. Keeping the stock power on a separate sheet matters when you mail it, because anyone with both the endorsed certificate and the matching stock power could transfer your shares.
Decide Between the Transfer Agent and a Brokerage
You have two routes. You can send the certificate to the company’s transfer agent, or you can deposit it with a brokerage firm where you already have an account. Cost and convenience are the trade-off.
Through the Transfer Agent
The transfer agent is the corporation’s official shareholder record-keeper. You can usually find its name on the back of the certificate or on the company’s investor relations page. Going directly to the agent generally costs less than using a broker, and many agents have online portals for uploading documents and tracking progress. After processing, the shares appear in your name through the Direct Registration System (DRS), which records your ownership electronically on the issuer’s books without any brokerage account.5Fidelity. Direct Registration System FAQs From DRS you can sell through the agent’s plan if one is offered, move the shares to a broker, or hold.
Through a Brokerage
If you already have a brokerage account, depositing the certificate there is simpler because you can place a sell order as soon as the shares post. The trade-off is cost. Brokerages charge processing fees for paper certificates. Schwab, for example, charges $100 per certificate.6Charles Schwab. Charles Schwab Pricing Guide for Individual Investors Other firms charge more, and some no longer accept physical certificates at all. Call first to confirm they still take paper and to get their exact submission instructions.
Mail the Certificate Safely
Never send a stock certificate by regular mail. An endorsed certificate in transit is close to a signed check made out to cash. Use USPS Registered Mail, which tracks and requires a signature at every handoff.
Registered Mail includes postal insurance up to a declared value of $50,000. Items worth more are charged a flat fee that still caps coverage at $50,000. USPS treats a certificate endorsed in blank as a negotiable instrument that must be declared at full market value, while an unendorsed certificate can be declared at replacement cost.7USPS. 500 Additional Mailing Services Mailing the stock power in a separate envelope from the certificate avoids creating a negotiable package and means a single lost envelope is useless on its own.
If the shares are worth substantially more than $50,000, consider supplemental insurance from a private carrier, since USPS coverage stops there. Some transfer agents let you upload scanned documents through a portal to start the process while the originals follow in the mail, which can shave time off the clock.
What Happens After You Submit
Once the transfer agent or broker receives your certificate, processing typically takes about five to twenty business days. The agent verifies the certificate against their records, confirms the signature guarantee, and cancels the physical document. Your shares then appear electronically, either as a DRS holding at the transfer agent or as a position in your brokerage account.
Most institutions give you a tracking number or an online dashboard. If you asked for a direct sale, the agent executes the trade and sends either a check or an electronic deposit. The sale price is set on the day the agent executes the trade, not the day you mailed the certificate. If timing matters on a large holding, convert to electronic shares first and then place your own sell order so you control the execution.
Taxes When You Sell
Selling shares from an old certificate triggers capital gains tax. The IRS looks at four things: when you acquired the shares, when you sold them, what you paid, and what you received.
Cost Basis
Your cost basis is generally what you originally paid for the shares, including purchase commissions and transfer fees.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 551 (12/2025), Basis of Assets For certificates bought decades ago, finding that number is the hard part. Check old tax returns, brokerage statements, and bank records. If you can’t locate anything, you’ll need to research the historical price on the date of purchase. If the stock has split since then, the per-share basis drops with each split even though the total basis stays the same. If you bought at different times, the IRS default is first in, first out: the shares you bought earliest are the ones treated as sold first.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 550 (2025), Investment Income and Expenses
Noncovered Shares
Stocks purchased before January 1, 2011, are “noncovered” securities. Brokers and transfer agents are not required to report cost basis to the IRS for noncovered shares, but you still have to calculate and report it yourself on Form 8949 and Schedule D.10Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8949 (2025) Almost every paper certificate was bought before 2011, so assume the IRS has no record of what you paid. If you don’t report a basis, the 1099-B will show the full sale amount and the IRS will treat all of it as gain.
Rates
If you held the shares for more than a year, the gain is a long-term capital gain, taxed at 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on your taxable income and filing status.11Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 409, Capital Gains and Losses For tax year 2026, single filers pay 0% on gains while taxable income stays below roughly $49,450, and the 20% rate starts above roughly $545,500. The thresholds adjust each year and differ by filing status. Shares held a year or less are taxed as ordinary income, which can be considerably higher.
If the Certificate Is Lost
A lost or stolen certificate does not mean the shares are gone, but replacing it costs time and money. Federal rules require transfer agents to report missing securities, which guards against someone else trying to cash your lost paper.12GovInfo. 17 CFR 240.17f-1 – Requirements for Reporting and Inquiry with Respect to Missing, Lost, Counterfeit or Stolen Securities
Two steps are involved. You file a notarized affidavit of loss with the transfer agent explaining what happened, and you buy an indemnity bond that protects the company and the agent if the original certificate ever resurfaces in someone else’s hands. The bond generally runs 2% to 3% of the current market value of the missing shares.13Investor.gov. Lost or Stolen Stock Certificates On a $50,000 holding, that’s $1,000 to $1,500 before you can move. Notary fees for the affidavit are modest. Once both are in place, the agent cancels the old certificate on their books and issues an electronic book-entry credit you can sell or transfer normally. Surety companies vary in speed, so compare if the timeline matters.
If the Owner Has Died
Inherited certificates take extra paperwork because you have to prove both the death and your legal authority. Transfer agents typically ask for a certified death certificate, Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration from the probate court, and a notarized Affidavit of Domicile confirming where the person lived at death. The executor or administrator signs the stock power on behalf of the estate. If the shares are being passed to a beneficiary rather than sold, the agent re-registers them in the beneficiary’s name, usually in electronic form. Requirements vary by agent, so get their checklist early in the probate process. Some want a medallion guarantee from the executor; others accept court orders in place of certain documents.
The tax picture usually improves. Under the stepped-up basis rule, the beneficiary’s cost basis resets to fair market value on the date of death rather than the original purchase price.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired from a Decedent If the decedent bought at $5 and the shares were worth $80 the day they died, your basis is $80, and a sale soon after at that price produces little or no gain. Any gain is treated as long-term regardless of how briefly the heir held the shares.10Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8949 (2025) If the executor filed an estate tax return, they may have elected an alternate valuation date up to six months after death, so check which date applies before you sell. Document the date-of-death value carefully; you’ll need it on your return.