Can investing and collecting go hand-in-hand? Yes -- especially if you are collecting coins, stock certificates, bank notes, or other rare items of value. Larry Schutts, an expert in investment-related collectibles, will periodically review items of interest from his collection and answer your questions here.

The development of the mining industry was critical to the economic expansion of twentieth century America. Coal and uranium furnished much of the energy necessary for industrialization. Iron, copper and cement components provided essential building materials. Gold and silver served as monetary bases. Most work in the 1800s involved the removal of near-surface materials, but growing mineral demands sent twentieth century miners deeper. Increasingly complex technologies required higher levels of capital investment and that led to a wide variety of corporate stock offerings. Many of the old mining certificates are reasonably priced and that makes them popular with the "scripophily" (collector) crowd. Decent levels of appreciation are also attracting the investment community. Compare seven-year price gains of the specimens discussed below with advances in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+16%) and the S&P 500 Index (+16%) since the market lows of 2002.

Can investing and collecting go hand-in-hand? Yes -- especially if you are collecting coins, stock certificates, bank notes, or other rare items of value. Larry Schutts, an expert in investment-related collectibles, will review items of interest from his collection and answer your questions here each week.

If you are old enough, you may remember that firms once issued stock certificates to investors as proof of ownership. Electronic trading has nearly rendered the practice obsolete. Old certificates are still in demand, though. A growing collector community actively seeks the certificates of firms no longer in business, and that exerts steady upward pressure on the values of desirable pieces. Investors are noticing, and collectible certificates are now being included in diversified portfolios.