EXHIBIT 31.2


                                  Certification


I, Todd L.  Sammons,  Senior  Vice  President  and Chief  Financial  Officer  of
Cooperative Bankshares, Inc., certify that:


1.   I  have  reviewed  this  quarterly  report  on  Form  10-Q  of  Cooperative
     Bankshares, Inc.;


2.   Based on my knowledge,  this  quarterly  report does not contain any untrue
     statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact  necessary to
     make the statements  made, in light of the  circumstances  under which such
     statements  were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
     this quarterly report;


3.   Based on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other  financial
     information  included  in this  quarterly  report,  fairly  present  in all
     material respects the financial  condition,  results of operations and cash
     flows of the  registrant  as of, and for,  the  periods  presented  in this
     quarterly report;


4.   The  registrant's  other  certifying  officer  and  I are  responsible  for
     establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
     in Exchange  Act Rules  13a-15(e)  and 15d-15 (e)) for the  registrant  and
     have:

     (a)  Designed  such  disclosure  controls  and  procedures  to ensure  that
          material  information  relating  to  the  registrant,   including  its
          consolidated subsidiaries,  is made known to us by others within those
          entities,  particularly  during  the  period in which  this  quarterly
          report is being prepared;

     (b)  Evaluated the  effectiveness of the registrant's  disclosure  controls
          and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions  about the
          effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
          of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

     (c)  Disclosed  in this  report  any  change in the  registrant's  internal
          control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's
          most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's  fourth fiscal quarter in
          the case of an annual  report)  that has  materially  affected,  or is
          reasonably  likely to  materially  affect,  the  registrants  internal
          control over financial reporting; and


5.   The registrant's  other certifying  officer and I have disclosed,  based on
     our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
     the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board
     of directors (or persons fulfilling the equivalent functions):

     (a)  all significant  deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or
          operation  of internal  control  over  financial  reporting  which are
          reasonably  likely to  adversely  affect the  registrant's  ability to
          record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

     (b)  any fraud, whether or not material,  that involves management or other
          employees who have a  significant  role in the  registrant's  internal
          control over financial reporting.

Date: May 12, 2004


                               /s/ Todd L. Sammons
                               -------------------------------------------------
                               Todd L. Sammons
                               Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer













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