No part of the debt is discharged by the destruction of the pledged property. If some of it perishes, what remains continues to stand as collateral for the whole debt, and no portion of the pledge is released so long as any portion of the debt is still outstanding. “An addition may be made to the pledge without any corresponding increase in the debt.”

If a single item is pledged to two creditors and one of them is paid, or if two people pledge a single item to a creditor and he collects his due from one of them, the pledge is released in proportion to that party’s share.

When the debt falls due¹ and the debtor refuses to pay, then—if the pledgor has authorized either the pledgee or the appointed trustee to sell—the authorized party sells the pledge and settles the debt. If no such authorization exists, the judge compels the pledgor either to pay or to sell the pledge; should he still refuse, the judge sells it himself and pays off the debt.

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The pledge is kept with whomever the two parties agree upon. If they authorize that custodian to sell, he may sell only for the currency current in the land. Once he has received the price, any loss while it remains in his possession is borne by the pledgor. If he claims to have handed the price to the pledgee, and the pledgee denies it, and there is no proof and the delivery did not take place in the presence of the pledgor, he is liable—like an agent who has failed in his duty.

If they stipulate that the pledge is not to be sold when the debt falls due, or that the pledge will pass to the creditor should the debtor fail to bring him his due² by a given time, such a condition by itself is invalid.

The pledgor’s word is accepted concerning the amount of the debt, the pledge, its return, and whether a pledged drink is merely unfermented juice and not wine. If, however, he admits that it actually belongs to someone else, or that it had incurred liability earlier, that admission counts only against himself, and the ruling…³