What would you do if you saw someone in a store with coins he may have stolen?

laserart

I was in Wal-Mart today and a kid in front of me paid for his stuff with a roll of uncirculated Kennedys and two rolls of quarters that were silver. I could only think to myself that he had swiped them from his dad or maybe a neighbor. He said he was only getting rid of some stuff he didn't need anymore. Would you have questioned him about it or not say anything. I didn't say anything because the guy at the register is my brother-in-law and he went home with the rolls after he put the money in the register to cover it.

gmarguli

What are you going to do? Interrogate the kid? Grab him and force him to take you to his home? Call the police?

There is nothing you can do. Say and do nothing. Let his father find out and kick his ass for this.

goose3

not much you can do.

I remember my grandpa complaining through the years about my mom and aunts spending his mercury dimes from his folders! yep...ALL of them!

pontiacinf

im with Greg on dat..

oldman will take care of it.

KlectorKid

I would do nothing its only some old silvers if it were rare i would stop him. if not i would just ask for change of the denomination he used.

laserart

As I was standing there I thought to myself,"Boy , your dad is gonna be really ripped when he finds out you lifted his coins". Like you say ,it was not my place. I only wondered what you all woulda done.

Petescorner

You could ask him if his "dad"...ahem, I mean if he had any other collectible coins for which you might pay him more than face value for.

LanLord

Tough situation, I pretty much agree with the rest of the opinions here. Even though there is a pretty good chance someone lost some coins today, it's not something you can easily get in the middle of.

So, did your brother in law get any good coins lately?

1907Quarter

on an aside I got a silver quarter in change a while back-from a liquor store. Likely it was hot.

laserart

Oh yeah, the Kennedys were all uncirculated. He is always finding Lincolns. Sometimes he comes across a Merc or a Buffalo.

truthteller

I would have told the kid that the coins were worth more than face value and would have given him what they were actually worth. Then the kid would have more money to spend and I would feel that the boy had not lost any money. They way things turned out, the kid lost value on the roles. In addition, I try not to assume the kid stole anything, but was just a kid.

TRUTH

Gilbert

I'm with you Truth. I think I would have tried to buy them off of him too. If he didn't have them legitimately, then conducting a transaction with someone who might be in his Dad's coin club may have shook him a tad.

Coulport

Seems to me there are regulations prohibiting doing business with a minor. Especially buying coins.
I know many shops require ID and won't buy from under 18 year olds.
I certainly wouldn't buy from the kid in the situation described.

truthteller

Coulport,

You are half right. in most states, the legal age of majority is 17 or 18 years of age. This means that a minor cannot enter into a binding contract. This protects the minor. If some person makes a 'contractual' transaction, then the minor can back out. However, the minor can purchase or do minor transactions involving money, else most stores could never sell to minors, be it a soda or a bag of chips. With that said, a non business entity can INDEED buy coins from minor for a fair price. Later, if the minor decided to back out, he may. But if you paid fairly, no harm is done. In fact, in this situation, the minor could go back to WAL-MART and demand his rolls of silver back and if WAL-MART refused, then the minor has a small claims action against them. So really, looking at things, WAL-MART was in the wrong and should have told the kid that the coins were more valuable than face.

TRUTH

boston

Shame on you for complicity. It's O.K. We can't all be parents, esp. when they are not ours. Glad he's not my kid. If he was and they were his,
I'd kick his arze for being stupid. Without explanation, somebody should have done the same for me.

dragon

I would have followed him out of the store, waited until nobody was looking, then pick him up and start shaking him violently and see if any Morgan dollars or Barber halfs fall out.

Dragon

petertdavis

If I knew the kid, I'd absolutly give his parents a call.
Anyway, you can't be sure that the coins weren't actually his to spend.

Coppernicus

When I was 12, I bought a soda at an old fashioned soda counter in a local drugstore. My change included 2 red Indians. I asked the counter guy if there were any more in the register - there were! I bought all he had at face value. I'm sure some kid grabbed one of his dad's rolls to "party" with. I didn't know who the kid was, but I still have the IHC's. If I had known who the kid was, I would have gone to his dad's house and returned the coins.

Honesty is best, but can be frustrating at times!