what is a bearer bond 
a bearer bond is a fixed income security that is owned by the holder or bearer rather than by a registered owner the coupons for interest payments are physically attached to the security the bondholder is required to submit the coupons to a bank or government treasury for payment and then redeem the physical certificate when the bond reaches the maturity date as with registered bonds bearer bonds are negotiable instruments with a stated maturity date and a coupon interest rate bearer bonds are virtually extinct in the u s and some other countries as the lack of registration made them ideal for use in money laundering tax evasion and any number of other under handed transactions they also are vulnerable to theft nevertheless bearer bonds are still issued in some countries understanding bearer bondsbearer bonds are bonds that have no registration these bonds are were issued by companies or governments and sold to investors to raise money the owner of the bond certificate is the recipient of the bond s payments and the bond value at maturity in the u s bearer bonds were issued by the government and corporations from the late 19th century after the civil war into the second half of the 20th century they gradually fell out of favor as modern technology outmoded them and investors shunned them because of their vulnerability to loss or theft the u s government discontinued them in 1982 under the tax equity and fiscal responsibility act of 1982 123redeeming old bearer bondsif you still hold old bearer bonds there are ways to claim them the u s government states that if you have bearer bonds you can send the bonds and coupons to the treasury using insured mail you should also include payment instructions primarily an address where the government can send the check you will also need to include an irs form w 9 4old bearer bonds issued by corporations may or may not have retained their face value even if the maturity dates have long since expired the holder of a corporate bearer bond can check for the name of the company that issued it and contact that company if it still exists or the company that bought it out if it was taken over the bearer bond may be honored 