Share Valuations

[Mitzimaybe]

Can anyone answer some idiot questions for me, please? I have some shares and need to find out what they're worth.

For example, BT shares described as "ordinary shares of 5p each". I've looked up "British Telecom" on the London Stock Exchange website and it lists a whole load of things, but none of them seem to be called ordinary shares of 5p each.

Some 3i shares described as "ordinary 73 at 19/22p" I have no idea what that means whatsoever.

Also, I might not be able to find some of the share certificates. Is it possible to sell them without the original certificates and, if so, how?

(If you're wondering why I'm dabbling in the stock market when I haven't a clue what I'm doing, the shares were bought for me by a now-deceased relative.)

Go to the company's website, and search for 'share price', eg BT:

www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/sharepricegraphs/index.cfm

This specifies that re figures refer to your 5p shares:

www.shareprice.co.uk/BT.A/BT-GROUP-ORD-5P

Just google 'company name type of share value' eg 'BT 5p shares value'. Very easy to find, enjoy getting into it!

The Registrar holds a record of everyone who owns shares in the company.

Go to the company website and find out who the Registrar is. Then call the Registrar and explain the problem.

You can find share prices in most daily newspapers or online at

Google Finance. Type in the name of the company whose share price you are interested in at the search box at the top of the page.

BT share price closed at £4.68 and 3i Group closed at £5.15 today.

Thank you so much, vinoandbrie and MoreBeta , for the helpful information. The Registrar bit is presumably in answer to my question about selling without a certificate, right?

I would like to get into it, as you put it, but I really haven't got time at the moment. My relative who was really into it treated it almost as a part-time job, checking prices every day, but I just can't do that. I just need to get a current valuation and then later to decide what to do with them.

If you want pretty graphs showing the performance, Hargreaves is very easy to use. Just type the company name in the share prices and stock markets section.

As an aside, I own 3i shares and they are doing very well just now. ??

Mitz - the Registrar should send you a new certificate but in reality most shares are now dematerialised and held electronically so don't expect it to happen quickly if you do request one. Most private individuals dont own shares directly anymore anyway but via an ISA or in pension fund or some other collective investment scheme (eg via Life insurance with profits mutual fund).

I do own shares directly and have my own electronic paperless Crest account. I trade shares a lot though and paper certificates are cumbersome. I have a sponsoring broker and it quickly becomes complex. You don't need all that. For your purposes you just need a new paper certificate and keep it somewhere safe.

Taz, thanks for the recommendation. About 3i - they bought some back or consolidated or something, a few times, so I have different statements over the years saying I own different amounts of shares, so even if I find the original share certificate I have, it won't correspond to the numbers of shares I supposedly hold now, will it? I get regular dividends so I assumed they must be doing OK.

MoreBeta, electronic/paperless sounds a lot more hassle. As I said, the relative who used to manage it for me has died and I'm finding it all a bit complicated.