My Business Law professor was telling us about this case that he lost and no longer knows how to find. He talks about it in the text book he wrote.
"In the classical case of the sale of a Stradivarius violin, the parties agreed to buy and sell a violin for a nominal amount of money. Later it is discovered that the violin was no ordinary violin, but a Stradivarius Violin worth millions of dollars. The seller sues to recover the Stradivarius violin, arguing that it was a mutual mistake of fact.
The holding of the case was that they were not mistaken of the fact. They both knew that they were buying and selling a particular violin and that the court does not decide the value of an item. Hence, the contract could not be rescinded and someone became very rich…
In researching, I came across the court case that the first 2 posters mention, but me being an apparent idiot, I went by the information posted in the question and wasted a good 20 minutes of my time. Thank you.
BTW, if the info is in the book your law prof wrote, why not just get the book??
4 Responses to “What is the classical court case involving mistake of value on a Stradivarius violin?”
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Smith v. Zimbalist 2 Cal.App.2d 324, 38 P.2d 170 (Cal.App. 2 Dist. 1934)
Richard
References :
I remember the case from law school – Smith v. Zimbalist – I think it was a California case. This is the "famous" one used in all the contract casebooks in law school.
However, you have the facts somewhat reversed. Seller sold two violins for $8,000 and thought one was a Stradivarius. It turned out to be a fake and worth only a couple of hundred dollars. The Buyer refused to pay the balance. Seller sued to collect. The Court excused the buyer because there was a material mistake. The deal is rescinded.
References :
http://www.quimbee.com/quimbee/case_detail/Smith%20v.%20Zimbalist/609
i’m a lawyer
http://ny-personal-injury-law.blogspot.com/
In researching, I came across the court case that the first 2 posters mention, but me being an apparent idiot, I went by the information posted in the question and wasted a good 20 minutes of my time. Thank you.
BTW, if the info is in the book your law prof wrote, why not just get the book??
References :
Hi, I know what an Stradivarius violin is. I cannot tell you about your case, on the other hand I can share a similar case which happened here in Tucson, Arizona in around 1987-88 We were at the Tanque Verde Swap Meet one day and witnessed a man buying a (Palm Sized) rock/stone from a woman. About three weeks later a Story hit the Tucson, Phoenix, and surrounding areas of All Arizona Newspapers. The woman was told by a ‘fellow swap meet seller’ that the man who bought her ‘rock/stone’ was actually a ‘Jeweler’ and that he was boasting on to his partner about how he had just snagged a diamond that could compare to the ‘HOPE’……..Well, needless to say, the woman filed with the courts. Both parties opted to attend mediation where they came to a mutual agreement where both parties’ monetary value was set ‘equally’ the division was made and court was avoided. Perhaps something like this could be done in your case? You could use this ‘case’ as an ‘I Refer to Arizona case #’ you need to do some research to find the case log with this mediated decision though.
I hope this helps?
Good Luck to you
References :
Personal witness to situation.