Coin Pay-Back: A Minnesota-based rare-coin dealer charged...

Coin Pay-Back: A Minnesota-based rare-coin dealer charged with overcharging customers all across the country has agreed to turn over to the government more than $2 million in assets, the Federal Trade Commission said Friday.

Michael W. Blodgett, president of T.G. Morgan Inc., agreed to turn over all his assets to the FTC after he was accused of overcharging customers for collectible coins.

Authorities have not yet identified all of the dealer’s clients and are urging people in Orange County and elsewhere who believe they were victims to contact the FTC.

“The defendant’s representations induced customers to purchase coins at prices often more than double or triple their resale or liquidation value,” said FTC spokeswoman Bonnie Jansen.

The civil complaint, filed last August, also charged the company with sending updates to past customers, falsely informing them that the market prices for their coins had increased substantially.

The assets will be used to pay back victims, Jansen said. Some of Blodgett’s assets that will be liquidated include a cache of the company’s rare coins and personal items owned by Blodgett, including a posh condominium and undeveloped land in Key Largo, Fla., a cabin cruiser, valuable original oil paintings and a late-model Mercedes-Benz.

Some of the coins to be sold off date back to 1852 and are worth hundreds of dollars.

The settlement, Jansen added, does not constitute an admission by Blodgett of any wrongdoing.

Jansen said FTC investigators are trying to identify victims for future reimbursements. She said those who suspect they were victims should contact the FTC in Washington at (202) 326-3303.