"The coins were real, but just about everything else about the operation was a lie," Spitzer says. As an example, Spitzer says the group would sell a coin such as an 1846 $5 Liberty coin.

In its actual used condition, the coin has a value of $2,000, but the telemarketers would hype it as being in mint condition and sell it for $9,500.

If an investor questioned the coin's value, he or she would be referred to an "independent" dealer from one of the five companies controlled by the telemarketers.

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