In the 1970's I was in St Louis and went to an estate sale and bought a Southern Traction Co. bond because it was really neat for a few bucks. I later learned that the company had been bought out several times and that the bond had been still valid up to two years before I bought it. It had all of the coupons still attached and each coupon and the bond itself was to be repaid in Gold Coin! Even without the gold it would have been worth several thousand dollars. If paid in gold I think it was around $250,000. GEEZ!