Treasurer Gives Sneak Peek Of Items To Be Auctioned At Illinois State Fair

CHICAGO (CBS) – The Illinois State Treasurer's office will auction off thousands of unclaimed property items worth over $100,000 next month at the Illinois State Fair.

Illinois State Treasurer, Michael Frerichs gave the public a sneak peak of some of the items on Thursday at the Thompson Center.

Frerichs explained items kept in banks' safety deposit boxes can be auctioned off if after 10 years the rightful owners cannot be located.

It might amaze you what some people keep.

"While we don't auction off teeth and hair, but there are a lot of people who put baby teeth into their safety deposit boxes, they put in locks of hair; but we have found swords, those are really large safety deposit boxes that will hold a sword," Frerichs said.

While other items may be pretty interesting to potential buyers.

"As a lifelong Cubs fans, as someone who grew up watching Ryne Sandberg, I just think that an autographed Ryne Sandberg 1983 baseball card is priceless, but for those who are coin collectors we have gold coins found from a shipwreck from 1622 that I think people are going to find interesting. We also have a Brian Piccolo card for you Bears fans out there," Frerichs said.

"Always find people who were avid collectors of Air Jordans, who put pristine Air Jordans, still in the box, in a safety deposit box."

The live auction will take place at the state fairgrounds in Springfield on Aug. 19 at noon.

"This is open for any citizen in the state of Illinois or out of state, to come and make a bid on these items. And we encourage people to come out," Frerichs said.

All auction proceeds will be held for the rightful owners permanently.