Queries Peterson certificates rich in history

Although your certificate is for a long-defunct company, our records indicate it would be exchangeable for about 6-7 shares of a new company called International Larder Minerals (TSE).

Shares of International Larder have traded at around 40 cents recently on the Toronto Stock Exchange, so it looks like your stock certificate wouldn’t be worth very much — about $2.80 by our calculations.

International Larder has some industrial mineral properties (talc and marble) in southern Ontario, and some petroleum (oil and gas) assets in Texas.

The historical value of the old Peterson Cobalt certificate might be of significance to you, however, and therefore may be worth keeping.

If it’s history your after, you’ve got plenty in that old stock certificate. It’s ornate artwork and decorative style convey a true sense of fortunes won and lost in the early days of Canadian mining history. How about framing it and hanging it on the wall as an art object?

Peterson’s corporate history begins back in the roaring 1920s, in the silver mining capital of Ontario. The town of Cobalt was host to dozens of small companies which were set-up to exploit rich silver discoveries found at Cobalt in the early part of this century. In fact, The Northern Miner traces its humble origins back to the town of Cobalt in 1915.

The rich silver discoveries at Cobalt were instrumental in opening up northern Ontario to mining, and the town later became a jumping off point for several major gold discoveries in other areas.

The Peterson company fell on hard times during the depression of the 1930s and was unable to continue developing its silver properties at Cobalt. Over the years, a number of reorganizations and name changes have occurred. The original Peterson Cobalt Mines was dissolved in 1964 and became Trinova Cobalt Silver Mines on the basis of one new share for 17 old. The latter company changed its name to Trinova Resource Exploration in 1978 on a one for one share exchange basis. In 1985 Trinova amalgamated with five other companies to form Flying Cross Resources, with shareholders receiving 1/5 of a new share for each old share held. Finally, Flying Cross amalgamated with Larder Resources in 1986 to form International Larder Minerals.

Check your local public library for more history on the silver mining town of Cobalt, Ont.

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