Ordinary shares

I have 1400 shares in a large plc - all the corresspondence I get refers to the shares as being ordinary shares at 32c - what does this mean? I presume if I sell them I'll get the current market price per share which is much higher than 32c?

The 32c is unrelated to the current market price; it's the price at which they were originally issued (looks like 5 shillings or 25p in pre-euro days, rounded to the nearest cent).

I'm sure these are CRH PLC Ordinary Shares of 32c each.

When you look at the accounts of CRH on page 12 of the annual report you will see that the share capital is €247m, made up of all of the 0.32's. Below that you will see all sorts of items which when added with the €247 add up to €10.6bn of equity. In simple terms, the vast majority of this latter figure is owned by the shareholders.

I suspect that you probably hold the shares in nominee form, rather than in certificate or crest form, and that you do not get the reports

It is called the nominal value and means nothing in terms of the market value

You may end selling them for more or for less than 32c each