Mark Cooper examines a set of half dollar coins Tuesday. One woman earned $500 for cashing in five rolls of silver Kennedy half dollars.

Photos by JARED SOARES The Roanoke Times

Mark Cooper, vice president of the International Coin Collectors Association, appraises a coin Tuesday at the Courtyard by Marriott.

A buying group promising quick cash in exchange for old or rare coins rolled into Roanoke on Tuesday for what a company representative calls a "stimulus" for the community.

The Illinois-based International Coin Collectors Association typically shells out $100,000 to customers per show, said Mark Cooper, vice president of the group that has set up shop at the Courtyard by Marriott through Saturday. Advertisements for the five-day event promise thousands of dollars in exchange for certain rare coins, such as buffalo nickels and 3-cent pieces.

But the outfit is limited to buying coins, rather than jewelry and precious metals, despite some paid advertisements to the contrary published this week in The Roanoke Times. Virginia and local law ban such short-term organizations from purchasing precious metals unless the group has a permanent location and a license. Several years ago, area law enforcement agencies shut down similar itinerant operations that did not have permanent locations and licenses. ICCA intends to modify its ads for the rest of the week, Cooper said.

ICCA is clear to do business locally, as long as it sticks to coin buying, said Aisha Johnson, a Roanoke police spokeswoman. Still, police plan to check in on the group's activities this week, she said.

But some consumers in other areas have complained about THR & Associates, ICCA's parent company, and the company is embroiled in a federal lawsuit for copyright infringement.

Jan Williamms was disappointed Tuesday when she arrived at the Roanoke ICCA sale with jewelry she wanted to sell. Williamms recently retired as a teacher, and she's moving to Arizona. She is selling items from her eight-room home in Salem to squeeze into a four-room abode in Arizona.

Still, she walked away with a $53 check after selling some silver dimes and quarters that she saved for years in a ceramic bowl atop her dresser.

"I wouldn't spend them because they were silver," Williamms said.

Others received larger check amounts. Shelley Boardman of Blacksburg earned $500 for cashing in five rolls of silver Kennedy half dollars. The coins were passed down to Boardman and her four siblings from their grandfather.

"Wow, this is fun," Boardman said after field buyer Dave Barrett informed her of her earnings.

Coin collectors pay ICCA to locate rare coins. Also, the association sells some common coins to large auction or other companies that may resell them, said Matthew Enright, a spokesman for THR, which owns ICCA and other entities, including Treasure Hunters Roadshow and Ohio Valley Gold and Silver Refinery.

But the Better Business Bureau has a record of 11 complaints in the past 36 months against THR. The complaints, most of which are resolved, claim that THR misrepresented products through sales. The BBB also claims THR misled the public with published articles that are ads.

Also, attorneys for WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston filed a lawsuit against THR this year for copyright infringement, stating that it uses a similar name and logo as the Public Broadcasting Service's "Antique Roadshow" to promote its Treasure Hunters Roadshow, according to court records filed in the U.S. District Court's central district of Illinois Springfield division.

The lawsuit alleges that outstanding complaints claim THR undervalues products and rips off customers.

Enright defended the company Tuesday, stating that it has a solid reputation and hosts successful events in many cities annually.

"Every company's going to say that they can pay more," he said. "We offer people a price, and they don't have to take it."