Mercs

UPDATE

Well I know y'all been scared that he's stealing the dimes or something, he told me today they are his moms and she doesn't mind if he's selling them.
I hope this clears some up, it gave me a bit of relief.

Biggfredd-so basically what your saying is he can legally tell me he wants the dimes back even if I buy them from him? Even if they are his and there is no proof he really sold them to me in the first place?
Sorry I'm a bit confused.

Real-life example:

Thirty years ago when I was young and stupid, a 17yo sold us some collectable beer cans from his collection. We reported the transaction to the police, per secondhand dealer law.

Couple days later, dad notices the cans missing from their joint collection and asks 17 what happened.

Instead of putting on his big boy pants and telling dad he sold them to get money for something stupid, he played "gee, they musta gotten stolen by one of my friends".

Dad reports the "theft", the police check my report, he comes down and gets them back (I forget the details), and everyone is happy.

Except the police. They were on a crusade because obviously, the reason crooks were stealing coins and jewelry was because dealers would buy them (sound familiar?)

When all was said and done, I had fines+costs of $150 and $1000 in legal fees.

Back to your questions:

He can void the transaction, because he never had the legal right to make the deal in the first place.

Even if they're his? You haven't proven this to my, or several other posters', satisfaction. But technically, they're only his under his parents' supervision until he's 18. This is why you hear about a kid inheriting a bunch of money which is held in trust until he's 18. The trust is managed by parent, guardian, lawyer until then.

"No proof he sold them"? Sounds like you're already looking for a way to defend doing something that you know you shouldn't be doing.

Real life example two:

One day at school, a friend of mine brought a little brown bag, and I gave him some money for it. The guidance counselor, let's call her Ms. Crabass, saw this transaction.

Next thing we knew, we were being separately questioned by Ms. Crabass in front of the principal. We both explained that my chemist friend had made up some capsules that would make you pee blue, and being a practical joker, this is something I had to have in my arsenal.

Since the odds of two people coming up with the same ridiculous story were between slim and none, we were sent back to class, but not before Ms. Crabass passed along some words of wisdom:

Avoid appearance of evil

Simply enough, if you're trying to hide something and you look like you're doing something wrong, odds are pretty good you are doing something wrong.

In this case, you make the deal with his parents, acting on his behalf, then there's no question whether he owns the coins or has the right to sell them.

I'd much rather you listen to advice, even if it means the deal falls thru, than to have to say "I told you so". There will be plenty of deals in the future, no sense in getting your butt in a sling because all you can see is dollar signs.

Pending on where you live it might well pay to just check with his parents if it was OK for him to sell them. Mention you are a coin collector and sure would like those. Then offer him a bit more money for those. Even up to $50 since they are all selling for about $3 each everywhere.
As to what is legal and what could be this or that, in most instances that really depends on where you live. By that I mean you can always find stories like the ones biggfredd gave but then too there are many stories of just the opposite. Kids today buy and sell almost any and everything and there is not much adults can really do about that.
Adult criminals well know that underaged kids can and do get away with even murder. In the area I live, kids sell things that may or may not be stolen and nothing is or usually can be done about that, or at least around me. People that report home robberies and home invasions are so frequent that the police usually say, sorry to hear that and move on. I know people that buy all sorts of guns from kids and they seldom heaesr the kids say I want them back.
Back to those coins. Again, you may want to just check with his Mom. Then offer a little more each time you talk to him.

There's the law, and there's the practical application of the law.

The law is quite clear. Minors cannot contract, and therefore any deal made with a minor can be voided by the minor. Period, end of story, applies everywhere in North America.

Practical application of the law: If Johnny takes a coin worth $5 from grandpa's collection sells it to Billy for $1, it's not worth anyone's time to take to court. We often get coins that later turned out to be stolen, but we either get to keep them, or sell them back to the true owner for a profit, because Aunt Eek is unwilling to press charges against her nephew.

If dad gives junior his old baseball cards, and some kid gives junior $5 for a Pete Rose rookie card, the most that's likely to happen is dad tells junior not to be so stupid in the future.

If junior discovers the folks' coin stash (which of course he's gonna tell you he has permission to sell), and they find he sold a 16d merc for melt value, then there may be enough value involved to pursue a legal remedy. That's when you find out the ramifications of dealing with minors.

Another potential problem. If you promote yourself as a coin buyer, you can quickly find yourself in the position of "experienced buyer". Where this comes in is when you pay 1/3 of wholesale for a bunch of coins and the seller finds out later. They can come back on you for taking advantage of their inexperience.

I offer this advice to educate you, not to belittle or make fun of you. I admire people, regardless of age, who are willing to hustle to improve their lives.

My concern is when youthful enthusiasm overrides necessary caution, when you can do things safely with just a bit more effort. I tried to mentor one 20yo back in 1980. Little things like "you don't meet someone at a roadside diner at 3ayem and pay them $20,000 cash for a boxful of new 14k jewelry mountings, and by the way, we've got a bunch of diamonds and other stones if you want to make those into sellable jewelry". In less than a year, he had everyone from the FBI down looking for him.

We all learn from experience. I've found it much better to learn from other people's experience, like letting someone else pay the tuition in the School of Hard Knocks, and you get the diploma.

Well I hope is mom is ok with it.
I will see what I can do.

I find those policies interesting from a couple viewpoints.

Not only young people who would steal from their parents, but also since I heard that the life expectancy of gangbangers is around 25. Insurance companies charge more for drivers under 25, and can justify it statistically.

I would think the problem would arise when the store as a matter of policy refuses to buy from someone who is legally an adult, but not, for example, 25. That sounds to me like the textbook definition of age discrimination. The store certainly has the right to refuse to deal with anyone, but as soon as they blanket a group that is a covered minority, (age-sex-religion-race, etc), they're on really thin legal grounds.

Is anyone on CCF that has 250 posts and is selling under 18? Should we ask before we buy and how would we know even if they said yes?Same on e-bay etc?

Exactly ome more good point. So many people here and other places think all is wonderful, everyone is following the law, honesty is everywhere.
I too know for a fact many, many people on ebay and other web sites are minors. Kids buy all sorts of stuff on the internet all the time. Although people mention how stores check for ID's but how many take things from kids with fake ID's? How many items are bought and sold by minors every day at flea markets? How many kids buy and sell weapons, drugs, bicycles, cameras and on and on and on all day, every day and all night around here.
biggfredd points out the ideal life that should, could, might possibly be realistic but it just AIN'T SO.
At coin shows I see kids selling coins as a dealer. Might not be 10 or 12 but sure close to about 16 to 18. And same with kids buying coins at coin shows. Never yet seen anyone turned down due to age.
And as to almost any store that does require and ID, as I said how do they know if the ID is real?