More than 4,200 items from Pennsylvania Treasury's vault up for auction
HARRISBURG, Pa. (KDKA) -- More than 4,200 items from the Pennsylvania Treasury's vault, including baseball cards, jewelry and currency, will hit the auction block on Wednesday.
The Treasury's two-day unclaimed property auction begins online on Oct. 25. Highlights include baseball cards that are more than 100 years old, several pieces of gold jewelry with diamonds, a 1908 St. Gaudens $20 coin and various collectibles like an Oscar Mayer Weinermobile whistle.
"Each unclaimed property auction showcases some unique and fascinating pieces that find their way to Treasury," Treasurer Stacy Garrity said in a news release.
"These auctions are a great way to get the word out about our unclaimed property program and to help make room for incoming inventory in our vault. We have the largest working vault in the country, but it can still fill up! Even if you don't want to place a bid, you should visit our website to search to see if some of the $4.5 billion in unclaimed property we're working to return belongs to you."
When an item is sold, the Treasury says it documents the proceeds, which will remain available for the rightful owner to claim. The Treasury says it tries to find the owner for three years before an item is auctioned.
There's more than $4.5 billion in unclaimed property owed to about one in 10 Pennsylvanians with the average claim worth around $1,600. Garrity says the Treasury receives hundreds of millions of dollars in unclaimed property every year, often because of something simple like a misspelled name or outdated address.
You can search for unclaimed property anytime by visiting the Pennsylvania Treasury's website.
