The E-Sylum:  Volume 6, Number 12, March 23, 2003, Article 6

MINE, MINE, ALL MINE?

  Regarding the seized Bill of Rights, "Pennsylvania Gov. Edward
  Rendell said any decision to file charges would depend on
  whether the would-be seller knew the document was stolen."

  What if you were the holder of that document?   And you
  didn't know it had been stolen?   I wonder what proof the
  officials have that the document was indeed stolen in the first
  place, and that this copy is that very same one.  If these facts
  can be proven then the document should indeed be returned
  to its rightful owner, for valid title has not passed despite the
  138-year gap.   But what a disappointment!

  This talk of ownership brings to mind another topic I've been
  wanting our readers' thoughts on.   Say you buy a numismatic
  book or periodical from a dealer, and later, while reading it,
  you find a piece of interesting numismatic correspondence
  tipped in.  It may be worth at least as much as you paid for
  the book. You didn't know if was there when you bought the
  book, and the seller probably didn't, either.  Who owns it?
  Should you return it to the seller?  Or keep it?

  Suppose the correspondence is worth 10 times what you
  paid for the book.  Still feel the same way?

  Suppose instead of correspondence, you find a piece of
  rare paper money.  Now what do you think about the
  situation?  What if the paper money were worth 100 times
  what you paid for the book?   Does any of this matter?

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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