Can you still get stock certificates?

to be honest, there's a good chance your broker is actually trading derivatives rather than actual assets.

not that there's anything wrong with that

bcdriver wrote: ↑I read somewhere that if I contact my broker they are required by law to provide me with physical stock certificates that prove my ownership. Has anyone done this? I'm just interested in them as collectibles.

You definitely can. Even discount brokers such as VB or Questrade can definitely process them. Note the fees however...
http://www.questrade.com/pricing/DIY-Tr ... ative-fees
https://www.virtualbrokers.com/contents.aspx?page_id=12

I find not as cheap brokers tend to be cheaper to do certificate withdrawals
http://www.scotiabank.com/itrade/en/0,,3694,00.html
https://www.tdwaterhouse.ca/document/PD ... 521778.pdf
http://www.credentialdirect.com/Pricing ... -fees.aspx

What I find cheaper to do is to get a security registered directly in your name, participate in their direct stock purchase plan, then withdrawal some shares via the DRIP or Direct Stock Purchase Plans. Usually, ceritifcates in these cases are free.

For US companies, you can directly become a shareholder by sending a cheque and buying shares first directly from the company (see Computershare, amstock.com). You become a shareholder and many plans allow for free certificate withdrawal. If you want to do one time certificates just for collection you can also buy them from these websites...

http://www.oneshare.com/
http://uniquestockgift.com/

My brother bought me my first share Bank of America when I was 15 from one of these websites. That's how I got into investing in the first place

Yes, try http://www.dripinvesting.org/boards/BoardMsgs.asp?BID=8 for person to person exchanges.