How to Redeem Stock Certificates (5 Steps)

Identify the stock certificates you wish to redeem. If they are the only stocks in your possession, this will be an easy task. However, if you only wish to redeem specific stock certificates, it will be necessary to compile a list of the certificates you wish to sell, along with identifying characteristics, such as ID numbers, issue dates and other information that your broker can use to initiate the transaction.
Notify your broker that you have stock certificates you wish to redeem for cash. Your broker can assess the current status of the stock and advise you on any options you may have that will help you earn the most return from the sale.
Determine the minimum price that you are willing to accept for the stock certificates. While your desire is to sell them at the current market price, that is not always a possibility. There is the chance that the demand for the shares will not be particularly high. When this is the case, you may have to sell the certificates at a discounted price in order to attract potential buyers.
Finalize the details of the transaction. Once a buyer has been found and the purchase price agreed upon, authorize your broker to accept the offer and begin processing the transaction. Generally, it is possible to complete the transaction in one trading day, unless the purchase is made late in the day. When that is the case, it may be the following business day before the transaction is fully completed.
Designate the mode of payment. A quick and secure method is to have the payment for the stock certificates electronically transferred into the bank account of your choice. The seller can either forward the payment to your broker, who then arranges the transfer or send it directly upon receiving the hard copy or electronic copy of the stock certificates that were purchased.

How to Find Dow Jones Stock Market Historical Prices and Charts

Access Yahoo! Finance (see Resources). Enter the date you want to check. For example, if you enter 03/04/1965, you will see that on March 4, 1967, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 846.60. Notice that Yahoo! Finance offers a range of dates so if you pick a wide range of dates for Dow Jones historical pricing, click on 'last' to get to the first day of your range. If you are familiar with using a financial calculator, you can use the Time Value of Money feature to determine the annualized rate of return between a date in the past and today's Dow Jones Stock Market price.
Access the StockCharts website if you prefer to see the Dow Jones historical pricing in chart form (see Resources). You will see a more visual representation of stock market price changes over the past century, particularly the enormous dip that occured during the Great Depression. Also, notice the major downward volatility in 1973-1974 and the crash in 1987. Again, in no way should you use chart to predict the future but it can certainly provide you a quick history lesson. When you see volatile periods, both good and bad, you may find it interesting to research the news headlines of those years.
Use these same websites for other historical information, such as historical individual stock prices. For example, on the Yahoo website, if you change the symbol to KO and enter the date 6/7/2000, you will see that Coca-Cola stock was priced at $53 per share at close of business on June 7, 2000. It will also show you a price adjusted for dividends and splits. While still on the same Yahoo page, click on 'Basic Chart' on the left-hand side to see a chart of Coca-Cola stock. You can adjust the chart from one day to beyond five years.
Use the historical information to make yourself a well-informed stock investor. This will, in turn, make you a more confident investor.