"Compared with stamp and coin collecting, scripophily is still new. Just a few people collected as early as the 1930s, but they were few indeed until two doctoral research theses were published in Germany in 1976. Their research showed a fascinating variety of Imperial Russian and Chinese bonds available for collecting. By the late 1970's, large numbers of collectors had discovered bonds and shares, and began developing the activity. It was named 'scripophily' - pronounced scrip-awfully - in a contest organized by the London Times in 1978….In the 21st century scripophily continues to enjoy growth worldwide. Many collectors have moved over from coins and paper money. For them, rare bonds and shares are still affordable."

"Most collectors soon see the wisdom of choosing a theme to collect. The range of themes is almost endless since bonds and shares reflect almost every aspect of economic history. Many collectors favor obvious themes such as railroads, autos or mining, but these offer a very wide range of material and some further specialization is needed. In the case of railroads, collectors often choose their own country or region. Autos are often collected by country or date. Mining collectors choose either their country/region or a type of mining - gold, diamonds, coal, etc. The smaller fields - oil, tobacco, tramways, textiles, engineering, electricity, water, coffee, tea and a hundred others - are small enough for a collector to build a worldwide collection…A cheaper option is to limit oneself by country and dates as well as theme. An example of such a limitation is "New England railroads pre-1900."

"Some collectors want autographs of famous persons on certificates - often found on US shares and sometimes on European pieces also, and including businessmen such as Wells and Fargo, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan and the Rothschilds…"

"New collectors often ask how one knows what is a fair price for a certificate. Most collectors are content to be in the low end of this range, say $10 to $500 or $1,000. As with everything else, prices are determined by supply and demand. So what influences supply and demand? Most would list the following: Beauty, Age, Rarity, Topical interest, Issued versus Unissued, Historical Significance, Autographs"

"New collectors often comment on the elaborate borders on bonds and shares. Some are individually engraved, but the majority are printed by a process, invented in the USA in the middle of the 19th century, in part to frustrate forgers. This used a geometrical lathe, creating an almost limitless variety of possible border designs, and making duplication almost impossible without the substantial investment available to the security printers"

"There is no doubt that companies used their certificates to present an impression of the company; a striking piece, well printed on high-quality paper gave a much better impression than something obviously much cheaper."

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