Abstract: A system for issuing, transferring and redeeming financial certificates which are representative of underlying publicly-traded property consists of means for carrying out a series of steps which permit an individual to gift a third party with a certificate which represents a company's security or other financial instrument, while not itself consisting of the financial instrument. The system consists of a means for establishing a communication link between a customer and a supplier of the certificates, providing a menu to the customer to permit the customer to select one or more corporate securities or other financial instruments, establishing a communication link between a supplier and a provider of price information relating to the securities, and permitting the customer to select the desired securities for gifting to a third party. The system also includes means for receiving personal information from the customer such as payment information, as well as the personal information of the certificate recipient.