Face value and Par value

Question

What is the difference between a face value (original par) and a par value of a securities? They are not the same as some may suggest because the values are differnet. Your help is appreciated. Example below,

CUSIP Rate Face Par Market Price Market Value

XXXXXXX 8.00 2050000.00 20543.94 107.9950 22186.43

Answer 1

Here are the links with all details for your question... hope this helps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_value

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par_value

Regards,

Rajesh

http://rajeshmohandas.blogspot.com/

Answer 2

There is a slight difference but basically it's the same. In any case the value is the same.Par means equal so when the market value/price is the same as the face value it would be AT par. If mkt value more then OVER  par and if less, then BELOW par. With your example the bond was presumably issued over par, which in fact most bonds are. The face value (in UK we call it nominal value) tells you how much stock you have got, and when redeemed will be at par. We say just par rather than par value, maybe it's just habit.

Answer 3

If there is a difference, and I personally don't believe there is, the difference may be this: The face value is what's stated on the bond, whereas the par value is what would be paid at maturity. But I can't see that these would be different.

Another possibility might be that a bond might have a value printed on the certificate but when initially sold the value could be different, depending on changes in the bond market.