FINDERS--APPLICATION OF STATUTE TO FINDER OF STOLEN NON-NEGOTIABLE BONDS

Plaintiff found a box containing twenty registered $1000 United States bonds and other non-negotiable securities, which had been stolen from defendants. Plaintiff turned them over to the sheriff who returned them to defendants. The bonds were endorsed "Not Transferable" and were payable only to the owner named thereon. Defendants had promptly notified the United States Treasury of the theft, and by fulfilling certain requirements, could have obtained duplicate certificates and bonds.

Plaintiff sued for a reward of ten per cent of the face value of the securities under an Iowa statute which provided for a reward of ten per cent of the value of the property for finding "lost goods, money, bank notes and other things." Held, plaintiff found only evidence of the obligations of the government and not the obligations themselves. He was therefore not entitled to a reward of ten per cent of the face value of the bonds. De Young v. Foster, (Iowa 1948) 32 N.W. (2d) 664.