I bought OTC stocks in the 80's and lost track of them. How do I find out if these companies changed their name or the shares are worth anything. Who can I contact if I have the actual certificates.

Ask these questions at the reference desk of your local public library. They'll help you themselves or call a larger library to find the answers.

If you have the stock certificates in hand the companies should have been sending you annual reports and other shareholder statements. If you have moved and failed to notify the stock registrar of your new address then you may have lost contact with them.

The obvious first place to start is with Google searches - try "CompanyABC shareholder information." If that doesn't work I suggest that if you have a stock account with a broker you can ask him or her to research it for you - they should be able to get the info you want based on the CUSIP number on the stock certificates.