would seal it with a signet, so that no one could tamper with it. Thus, if a person removes the seal but does not untie the bag, he is liable, because the seal undoubtedly provides greater security than if it were absent. By removing it, he has compromised its safekeeping and is therefore liable.
A lock is analogous to a seal. Thus, if he removes the lock from the chest—even if he puts it back—he is liable. The exception is where the chest is not exclusively for the deposited property; for example, it may contain his own coins, or someone else’s coins, along with the depositor’s coins, and he opens the chest in order to take out money for his own expenses. In that case, he is not liable, because he has neither transgressed nor been negligent. The governing principle is that if the custodian removes what constitutes complete security, or the basic security, he is liable.
His statement, “or mixes it with something indistinguishable, and all of it is lost, he is liable”: for example, someone deposits wheat with him and he mixes it with other wheat. Here he has mixed the deposited property with something indistinguishable, because grains of wheat are alike and cannot be differentiated. If he mixes it with something indistinguishable and all of it is then lost—that is, both what he originally had and what he mixed with it are lost—he is liable.
It is also possible that the intended meaning of his statement, “and all of it is lost,” is that it applies to the three cases: where coins are deposited with him and he removes them from their secure place, removes the seal, or mixes them with something indistinguishable.
It is understood from his statement, “mixes it with something indistinguishable,” that if he mixes it with something distinguishable, there is no harm, provided it remains in a place of safekeeping appropriate for such property. However, this requires further detail:
If he mixes it with something distinguishable from which it can easily be separated, there is no harm, and it cannot be said that the man has been negligent or transgressed—for example, if he mixes jewelry with gold coins in a chest.