Does anyone know if anyone has written a book or article discussing the law, as it applies to coins

SanctionII

I am not aware of any book on this topic. Some articles on this topic appear on occasion in Coin World.

General rules of law regarding tangible personal property (which is what coins are), including rules for the acquisition of ownership of, transfer of and encumbrance of same; including lost, abandoned, misplaced property rules; including rules that apply to stolen property; including rules that apply to title and lien disputes; including rules governing sales of goods and risk of loss; including rules regarding consumer protection; including rules covering monetization of the coins and placing same into commerce/private ownership; and including rules for the transfer of goods into and out of the counrty would be very interesting to know.

Even more interesting would be a discussion of actual court case opinions that deal with legal issues in cases where collectible coins and related items are the topic.

If you are aware of any such books or articles, please post the details of same in your replies.

mrearlygold

What about David Ganz?

MrHalfDime

Armen R. Vartian writes a regular (I believe monthly?) column in Coin World entitled "Collectibles and Law", in which he covers many of the subjects you mention. I confess I do not read all of them, but every once in a while he covers a subject that captures my interest. Admittedly, some facets of the law are pretty mundane, but many of the subjects he covers affect each of us as collectors and are well worth reading.

StrikeOutXXX

I have access to a few online databases through work (Mostly print stuff). Searching to see what I could find for SanctionII I am finding a few neat articles about coins in general for the 50's to present.

Anybody know the copyright laws on articles out of magazines that aren't in business any longer? I have to go see what the online service has for terms of use.

SanctionII

It is funny how there is substantial truth in the saying that "the law is mundane". It can even be arcane and confusing.

However, the law becomes very real, with real life consequences to persons and businesses when a dispute arises over some thing (i.e. ownership of the 10 1933 Saints the Feds claim it recovered) that has great economic value or that has other value (sentimental, societal, etc.).

In those situations, determining what the applicable rules of law is crucial. Many times the applicable rules of law are not clear, with conflicting statutes and conflicting published appellate court opinions.

In such cases, the lawyer representing the client must take a step back and determine the background, nature and purpose behind a legislature enacting a statute to determine if the legislature intended that the statute apply to the type of case the attorney is handling; and further must determine if the facts of the appellate court opinion or opinions that give rise to same are different from or the same as the facts of the case the lawyer is handling.

After stepping back and making this type of analysis, the lawyer must come up with legal arguments, supported by facts he or she is able to establish in the case (via discovery, etc) and supported by applicable case or statuory law. If case law is conflicting, he or she must chose those cases which support his client's position and come up with good, persuasive arguments why the cases that support his client are correct and why the other cases are incorrect. Further, in situations where no controlling case law exists, the lawyer must come up with persuasive arguments as to why the court should extend existing law (or create new law) to apply to the case in a manner that results in a win for his client.

Not an easy thing to do, this lawyering stuff.

Then, after the lawyers for both sides present their respective sides, with supporting legal authority to the court for decision, they can rest easy knowing that they do not have to decide the case. That is up to the judge (who may know nothing about the area of law he is required to make a descion on; and who may believe that both legal positions are plausible; who may be oversorked with 1,000 active cases; and who then must make a decision in such a manner that if he is appealed to a higher court, he has issued a decision which will stand the best chance of being upheld by an appellate court [since trial court judges do not like to be told by appellate courts that they made an incorrect decision]).

Not an easy thing, this judging stuff.

ABC123

Varitan writes Coin and the Law for CoinWorld---Google him for books and articles

MrHalfDime

By all means Google him, but you will need the proper spelling. Google:

Armen Vartian

He has several books to his credit on collectibles and the law.

majorbigtime

<< <i>By all means Google him, but you will need the proper spelling. Google:

Armen Vartian

He has several books to his credit on collectibles and the law. >>







He's a nice Armenian boy, too!