Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles - The Ludwig von Mises ...

The Legal Nature of the Monetary Irregular-Deposit Contract 7the regular deposit, or deposit of specific goods, the depositaryis not responsible for the loss of a good due to an inevitableaccident or act of God, while in the irregular deposit, thedepositary is responsible even in the case of an act of God.Therefore, in addition to the traditional advantages of immediateavailability and safekeeping of the entire deposit, theirregular deposit acts as a type of insurance against the possibilityof loss due to inevitable accidents. 7THE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT IN THEMONETARY IRREGULAR DEPOSITIn the irregular deposit, the obligation to guard and protectthe goods deposited, which is the fundamental element inall deposits, takes the form of an obligation to always maintaincomplete availability of the tantundem in favor of thedepositor. In other words, whereas in the regular deposit thespecific good deposited must be continually guarded conscientiouslyand in individuo, in the deposit of fungible goods,what must be continually guarded, protected and kept availableto the depositor is the tantundem; that is, the equivalentin quantity and quality to the goods originally handed over.This means that in the irregular deposit, custody consists of theobligation to always keep available to the depositor goods of thesame quantity and quality as those received. This availability,though the goods be continually replaced by others, is the equivalentin the case of fungible goods of keeping the in individuogood in the case of non-fungibles. In other words, the ownerof the grain warehouse or oil tank can use the specific oil orgrain he receives, either for his own use or to return to7 As Pasquale Coppa-Zuccari wisely points out,a differenza del deposito regolare, l’irregolare gli garantisce larestituzione del tantundem nella stessa specie e qualità, sempreed in ogni caso. . . . Il deponente irregolare è garantitocontro il caso fortuito, contro il quale il depositario regolarenon lo garantisce; trovasi anzi in una condizione economicamenteben più fortunata che se fosse assicurato. (See PasqualeCoppa-Zuccari, Il deposito irregolare [Modena: Biblioteca dell’Archivio Giuridico Filippo Serafini, 1901], vol. 6, pp. 109–10)