Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced that the Treasury’s Fall Unclaimed Property Auction generated more than $523,000 in gross sales.
More than 6,000 items were sold during the two-day auction held Oct. 29 and 30. The Treasury works with Pook & Pook, Inc. to provide auctioneer and appraisal services.
Treasury expects to net more than $450,000 from total gross auction sales of $523,840. Proceeds from the sale have been recorded and will be held in perpetuity so that rightful owners may claim them at any time.
The highest-priced item sold was rhodium sponge, which brought $23,400. Other notable sales included:
- 5.739 troy ounces of iridium sponge and 16.76 troy ounces of platinum sponge, each selling for $17,000.
- A platinum ring featuring a 4.40-carat emerald-cut diamond (color I, clarity SI1) with two tapered baguettes totaling .25 ctw, size 5, weighing 4.75 dwt, which sold for $16,000.
- An 18K yellow gold bracelet set with 40 round diamonds totaling .60 ctw (color G, clarity SI2) and 40 round sapphires, weighing 48.35 dwt, which sold for $5,500.
- A 14K yellow gold cross pendant with 1.25 ctw of round, baguette, and square diamonds (color G, clarity I2), weighing 21.80 dwt, paired with a 10K yellow gold chain weighing 36.70 dwt, which sold for $4,000.
Any items not sold or not paid for by winning bidders are returned to Treasury and may be offered in future auctions.
Businesses are required to turn over unclaimed property to Treasury after it has remained dormant for three years. Tangible items, most commonly the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes, are then held securely in Treasury’s vault for at least an additional three years while efforts continue to locate the rightful owners. Treasury does not auction military decorations or memorabilia.
Despite mailed notices, database searches and online listings, Treasury is not always able to reunite unclaimed property with its rightful owner due to issues such as no address or no identifiable heirs.
Currently, more than $5 billion in unclaimed property is available to be claimed, and more than one in ten Pennsylvanians is owed unclaimed property. The average claim is more than $1,000.
Pennsylvanians can search for unclaimed property at patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property.
