THE NORTHWESTERN LAW REVIEW VOL. I. JANUARY, 1893. No. 1. LOST OR STOLEN SHARE CERTIFICATES. SECTION 1. Rights of Real Owner Superior to those of Bona Fide Purchaser.-It is proposed to consider in this article some of the rights and remedies growing out of the loss or theft of a certificate of corporate shares. And first, it is to be observed that a certificate of shares, although the person named therein as owner may have signed the usual blank transfer endorsed thereon, is not a negotiable instrument in the strict sense,' and no usage or custom among stock brokers of regarding it as a negotiable instrument is valid.' It follows that where a share certificate thus endorsed is lost or stolen, without fault on the part of the owner, one who thereafter purchases it of the finder or thief, although in good faith and for value, will not acquire a title to it, as against the owner, as is sometimes held in the case of the loss or theft of negotiable instruments. 1 Hall v. Rose Hill, etc., R. Co., 70 Ill. 673; Mechanics' Bank v. New York, etc., R. Co., 13 N. Y. 627; Weaver v. Barden, 49 N. Y. 286; Winter v. Belmont Mining Co., 53 Cal. 428; Sherwood v. Meadow Valley Mining Co., 50 Cal. 412; Barstow v. Savage Mining Co., 64 Cal. 372; Shaw v. Spencer, 100 Mass. 382; S. C., 1 Am. Rep. 115; East Birmingham Land Co. v. Dennis, 85 Ala. 565, 567; S. C., 28 Cent. L. J. 402. 2 East Birmingham Land Co. v. Dennis, 85 Ala. 565; S. C., 28 Cent. L. J. 402; Shaw v. Spencer, 100 Mass. 382; S. C., 97 Am. Dec. 107; 1 Am. Rep, 115; Dickinson v. Gay, 7 Allen (Mass.) 29; S. C., 83 Am. Déc. 656; East Tennessee, etc., R. Co. v. Johnston, 75 Ala. 596; Lehman v. Marshall, 47 Ala. 362. 'East Birmingham Land Co. v. Dennis, 85 Ala. 565; S. C., 28 Cent. L. J. 402; 2 L. R. A. 836; 5 Rail. & Corp. L. J. 296; 5 So. Rep. 317; Barstow v. Savage Mining Co., 64 Cal. 388; S. C., 49 Am. Rep. 705; Wells v. Smith, 7 Abb. Pr. (N. Y.) 261. The same has been held in regard of bills of lading endorsed in blank: Gurney v. Behrend, 3 El. & Bl. 622. |