In 1973 I bought a very old (early 1900's) bond for the Southern Traction Company I found in a closet at an estate sale in St. Louis. I decided to do a little research on it. The bond and its coupons are payable in GOLD coin to the bearer. After a lot of work I determined that they were bought out several times by other railroads and that the bond was good - until 1970. UGH!!! That $5000 bond and all of its coupons would have been worth a lot of money if I had only gotten it a few years earlier.