Registered Bonds

See bearer bond.

Then see Barry Bonds, just for a break.

Registered just means that a bond's owner has given the bond's issuer their name, social security number, soul, and so on.

This way, if the bond is ever lost or stolen, the owner can go back to the issuer and still get paid. In the case of a bearer bond, it's basically "possession is 100% of the law"—that is, if you "bear" that bond or have it… you own it. It's like a second cousin of cash.

The tellers at the bank prefer that you "grin" when you "bear it."