what is at par 
the term at par means at face value a bond preferred stock or other debt instrument may trade at par below par or above par par value is static unlike market value which fluctuates with credit ratings time to maturity and interest rate fluctuations the par value is assigned at the time the security is issued when securities were issued in paper form the par value was printed on the face of the security hence the term face value understanding at pardue to the constant fluctuations of interest rates bonds and other financial instruments almost never trade exactly at par a bond will not trade at par if current interest rates are above or below the bond s coupon rate which is the interest rate that it yields a bond that was trading at par would be quoted at 100 meaning that it traded at 100 of its par value a quote of 99 would mean that it is trading at 99 of its face value par value for common stock exists in an anachronistic form in its charter the company promises not to sell its stock at lower than par value the shares are then issued with a par value of one penny this has no effect on the stock s actual value in the markets a new bondif when a company issues a new bond it receives the face value of the security the bond is said to have been issued at par if the issuer receives less than the face value for the security it is issued at a discount if the issuer receives more than the face value for the security it is issued at a premium the yield for bonds and the dividend rate for preferred stocks have a material effect on whether new issues of these securities are issued at par at a discount or at a premium a bond that trades at par has a yield equal to its coupon investors expect a return equal to the coupon for the risk of lending to the bond issuer example of at parif a company issues a bond with a 5 coupon but prevailing yields for similar bonds are 10 investors will pay less than par for the bond to compensate for the difference in rates the bond s value at its maturity plus its yield up to that time must be at least 10 to attract a buyer if prevailing yields are lower say 3 an investor is willing to pay more than par for that 5 bond the investor will receive the coupon but have to pay more for it due to the lower prevailing yields 