Always a Bull Market Somewhere

Scott Payton writes in The Spectator about scripophily. "Scrip" is a term for a currency substitute, while "-ophily" is a derivative of the Greek for "love."

‘Whenever there’s a catastrophe on Wall Street, our business just gets better — because our products become more collectable.’ So says Bob Kerstein, founder of Virginia-based Scripophily.com, the world’s largest buyer and seller of historic bonds and share certificates.

The recent blizzard of insurance and investment banking failures has brought Kerstein particularly brisk business. ‘Our Merrill Lynch certificates are selling very well, and we’re almost completely out of Bear Sterns certificates,’ he says. ‘A few months ago you could buy a Merrill Lynch certificate for about $20 or $30. Now they’re worth upwards of $100.’

This part also sticks out:

Old Chinese government bonds, some of which were never fully redeemed, have long been in high demand. The Chinese 1913 Reorganisation Gold Loan is particularly sought after. ‘People are buying them and taking the Chinese government to court, arguing that they should be paid in gold,’ Veissid explains.

However, share and bond certificate dealers are keen to distance themselves from such speculative buying, arguing that it is nothing more than wishful thinking. ‘Since the 1930s, the so-called gold clause has been chucked out of court more times than I’ve had hot dinners,’ Veissid says.

Interesting article. Interesting subject.