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[hughes@ah.com (Eric Hughes)]

   These are no different than checks endorsed by the payee without restriction
   (signed on the back).  Every time you just endorse a check, you have
   converted it into a bearer instrument.  Perfectly legal.

Just so folks don't misunderstand Duncan, the conversion to a bearer
instrument only occurs with a blank endorsement (blank, or Pay to
Bearer), not with a special endorsement (Pay To or Pay To The Order Of
somebody else).  

And for minor terminology nits, an unrestricted endorsement is
different.  A restricted endorsement are words like "for deposit only"
or "pay any bank".  And these two categories are different from
qualified endorsements, which affect liability.

Eric