Coupon (bond)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

In finance, coupons are "attached" to bonds, either physically, as with old bonds (with a stapler), or electronically. Each coupon represents a predetermined payment promised to the bond-holder in return for his or her loan of money to the bond-issuer. The bond-holder is typically not the original lender, but receives this payment for effectively lending the money. The phrase "coupon clipper" can refer to either a bond-owner or someone who uses coupons from newspapers, catalogs or advertisements.

The coupon rate, the amount promised per dollar of the face value of the bond, helps determine the interest rate or yield on the bond. Not all bonds have coupons. Zero coupon bonds are those which do not include coupons, but are sold to investors at a price less than the par value paid out when the bond has matured.

Regardless of the coupon rate, the bond will trade at a price such that its yield equals the prevailing market rate.

Uncut bond coupons on 1922 Mecca Temple (NY, NY, U.S.A.) construction bond
Uncut bond coupons on 1922 Mecca Temple (NY, NY, U.S.A.) construction bond

There were 40 coupons printed on the same sheet of heavy paper as the Mecca Temple 5%s of 1944 bond itself. As a $100, twenty-year 5% bond with semi-annual payments, each coupon became worth $2.50 on the date printed on it. These coupons were never cut off the bond because the company became insolvent during the Great Depression. The building it funded was taken by the city of New York for back taxes, and renamed New York City Center. The coupons have no economic value today, except for the wallpaper securities or scripophily dealer from whom the bond was purchased, for a nominal amount.

Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.