All bonds or other evidences of debt held by an insurance corporation authorized to do business in this state may, if amply secured and not in default as to principal or interest, be valued as follows:
If purchased at par, at the par value; if purchased above or below par, on the basis of the purchase price adjusted so as to bring the value to par at maturity and so as to yield meantime the effective rate of interest at which the purchase was made, but the purchase price shall in no case be taken at a higher figure than the actual market value at the time of purchase, and the commissioner shall have full discretion in determining the method of calculating values according to the foregoing rule, and the values found by him in accordance therewith shall be final and binding, and any such corporation may return the bonds or other evidences of debt at their market value or their book value, but in no event at an aggregate value in excess of the aggregate of the values calculated according to the foregoing rule.
This section shall not be construed to apply to any insurance corporation authorized to do business in this state which shall not elect to value its bonds and other evidences of debt by amortization as herein provided.
N.J.S. § 17:24-5