This is a brief excerpt from the document you requested from IFAR’s Art Law & Cultural Property Database.
Case Summary
Naftzger v. American Numismatic Society
Naftzger v. Am. Numismatic Soc’y, No. BC075918, (Cal. Super. Ct. Mar. 10, 1994) (unpublished), order granting summary judgment; rev’d and remanded, 42 Cal. App. 4th 421 (Cal. Ct. App. Feb. 1, 1996); modified, 42 Cal. App. 4th 1806B (Cal. Ct. App. Mar. 4, 1996); on remand, judgment for plaintiff, No. BC075918, (Cal. Super. Ct. 1998); aff’d, No. B118699, (Cal. Ct. App. June 17, 1999).
Précis
A coin collector stole 129 large copper pennies from the museum of the American Numismatic Society (ANS), substituting inferior coins to prevent detection. In 1990, the ANS discovered the theft of the coins, fifty-eight of which had by then been purchased by Roy E. Naftzger, Jr. The ownership dispute between the ANS and Naftzger turned on the court’s reading of the California
statute of limitations
1) A law that bars claims after a specified period; specifically, a statute establishing a time limit for suing in a civil case, based on the date when the claim accrued (as when the injury occurred or was discovered). The purpose of such a statute is to require diligent prosecution of known claims, thereby providing finality and predictability in legal affairs and ensuring that claims will be resolved while evidence is reasonably available and fresh. 2) A statute establishing a time limit for prosecuting a crime, based on the date when the offense occurred (Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004)).
statute of limitations.
Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 338(c). . . .
Associated Legal Decision(s)
Associated Statutes and/or Legislation
Click here to subscribe to IFAR's Art Law & Cultural Property Database to access this and other documents about U.S. and international legislation and case law concerning the acquisition, authenticity, export, ownership, and copyright of art objects.
