3 ms·

If I put a valuable antique coin in a bank's safety deposit box and the bank closes due to bankruptcy, I could sue to get my specific coin back because (a) the

If I put a valuable antique coin in a bank's safety deposit box and the bank closes due to bankruptcy, I could sue to get my specific coin back because (a) the value is in a tangible item that, (b) the expectation is that bank is storing an item that is still specifically owned by me. If the bank was merely holding my money in an account balance, then I could not sue in this manner since I would be treated like any other debtor in the bankruptcy proceeding. Someone tried to sue MTGox to get their money back as if they were in the first situation. The court correctly ruled that the plaintiff was actually in the latter situation and they would have to be treated like a debtor.

sorokod 11y ago
I think that "tangible" doesn't quite capture the difference between an antique coin and a bill with a known serial number.
- genericuser 11y ago
  The bill with a known serial number quits being tangible when you deposit it into an account because you are only owed a bill not that bill. If you had put the bill with a known serial number in your safety deposit box, for instance if it was your first dollar ever earned you could sue for that bill the same way the coin is sued for by stating its serial number, since the bank was storing it as a tangible good, and not simply as a product of its value.
genericuser 11y ago
While other people have correctly stated this point elsewhere in this topic. I think you have phrased it in a very simple and easy to understand way, which I feel anyone not able to understand would not be someone worth having a conversation on this topic with. Thank you for what I believe to be a correct and extremely dumbed down way of expressing the absurdity of anyone getting upset about this ruling. I will be stealing your analogy, as close to verbatim as I can remember, should I encounter a conversation on this topic in the future as it is much easier than trying to explain it in more abstract terms.

sorokod 11y ago

I think that "tangible" doesn't quite capture the difference between an antique coin and a bill with a known serial number.

genericuser 11y ago
The bill with a known serial number quits being tangible when you deposit it into an account because you are only owed a bill not that bill. If you had put the bill with a known serial number in your safety deposit box, for instance if it was your first dollar ever earned you could sue for that bill the same way the coin is sued for by stating its serial number, since the bank was storing it as a tangible good, and not simply as a product of its value.

genericuser 11y ago

While other people have correctly stated this point elsewhere in this topic. I think you have phrased it in a very simple and easy to understand way, which I feel anyone not able to understand would not be someone worth having a conversation on this topic with. Thank you for what I believe to be a correct and extremely dumbed down way of expressing the absurdity of anyone getting upset about this ruling. I will be stealing your analogy, as close to verbatim as I can remember, should I encounter a conversation on this topic in the future as it is much easier than trying to explain it in more abstract terms.