Collecting old Shares (Stocks) and Bonds, or ‘Scripophily’, to use the relatively newly coined definition which has been accepted by the Oxford English Dictionary. Gained recognition as a hobby around 1970. The word ‘Scripophily’ was coined by combining words from English and Greek. The word ’Scrip’ represents an ownership right and the word ‘Philos’ means to love. It is a fairly recent activity that has developed a strong following, initially in Europe and America, which has now expanded across the globe.

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Scripophily has become a focused area for collectors due to both the inherent beauty of some historical documents as well as the interesting historical context of each document. It has gained momentum in recent years with the introduction of electronic share registries and linked stock exchange computerised settlement systems which has done away with the need for physical share certificates.

Today there are thousands of collectors worldwide (Scripophilist’s) in the search of scarce, rare, and popular stocks and bonds. Collectors who come from a variety of businesses enjoy this as a hobby, although there are many who also consider scripophily a good investment. Many collectors like the historical significance of old certificates. Others prefer the beauty of older stocks and bonds that were printed in various colours with fancy artwork and ornate engraving. These documents were the foundations to all economic activity from the beginning of time which can be traced back to
2000BC with the Assyrians.
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Nowhere can art, history and money come together as succinctly as they
do in the world of scripophily. Just as finance has played its part since the
beginning of trade, so to the certificates themselves provide opportunities
to plot progress throughout the ages. Economic development may be
grouped into six major stages:​

1. Early and primitive commodity trading by the Assyrians and others

2. Governments and Semi-Government Financing

3. Establishment of trading companies in the 16th & 17th Centuries

4. The Industrial Revolution of the late 18th century

5. Railway construction from 1830’s, and

6. The marketing and technological age of the late 20th Century and early 21st centuries

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The artwork combines the themes associated with people at work, company, industry, infrastructure or country scenes which are then transformed, using vignette skills, to create magnificent engravings of
important people, places, buildings or structures like oil rigs, ships or railway steam engines and carriages. Vignette is an engraving, drawing, photograph, or the like, shading off gradually at the edges, a design without a borderline.
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In recent times, Dot.com companies and scandals have been particularly popular issuances.  A recent addition to the hobby is collecting real, live shares issued in one’s name. Common companies that issue stock certificates including Walt Disney, Harley-Davidson, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Google, Ford Motors, Coca-Cola, Berkshire Hathaway, Broken Hill Proprietary and Bank of New South Wales from an Australian
perspective.
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Framing is also a popular option for these shares. Many autograph collectors are found in this field, looking for signed certificates from John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil, Henry Charles Carey of the Franklin Fire
Insurance Company, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Baily Circus, Atari Corporation, Eddie Rickenbacker as president of Eastern Air Lines or J. Paul Getty of Mission Development Company.
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The artwork combines the themes associated with people at work, company, industry or country scenes which are then transformed, using vignette skills, to create magnificent engravings of important people,
places, buildings or structures like oil rigs, ships or railway steam engines and carriages.

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All of these securities have been created at some time during the Financial Markets timeline from 2000BC to 2024AD as shown below.​