He was likewise curious about stocks and bonds and he learned that some stocks and bonds were not worth the paper they were written on, and that others were worth much more than their face value indicated.
"There, my son," said his father to him one day, "you won't often see a bundle of those around this neighborhood." He referred to a series of shares in the British East India Company, deposited as collateral at two-thirds of their face value for a loan of one hundred thousand dollars.

A Philadelphia magnate had hypothecated them for the use of the ready cash.

Young Cowperwood looked at them curiously.

"They don't look like much, do they ?" he commented.
"They are worth just four times their face value," said his father, archly.
Frank reexamined them.

"The British East India Company," he read.