More than 5,500 items from Treasury’s vault will be available to bid on over two days
Harrisburg, PA — Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced today that the next auction of unclaimed property begins tomorrow and features jewelry, coins, and collectibles. The two-day online auction will take place Wednesday, March 26, and Thursday, March 27 on pookandpook.com and will feature more than 5,500 items previously safeguarded in Treasury’s vault.
“I’m excited to announce our upcoming auction of unclaimed property with our auctioneer partners, Pook & Pook,” Treasurer Garrity said. “There will be some unique items available that I think will garner a lot of interest, and I encourage everyone to take a look. Our goal is always to return this property to rightful owners, and we spend at least three years working diligently to find them. Although we have the largest working vault in the country, we still need to make room for incoming items by hosting these auctions.”
Some of the valuable and interesting items in this week’s auction include:
- 14K yellow gold chain, 115.90 dwt;
- 14K gold Knights Templar presentation medal with engraving, 90.6 dwt;
- 18K yellow gold jewelry to include two bangle bracelets, 64.7 dwt;
- 22K yellow gold bangle bracelets, 44.8 dwt;
- Switzerland Helvetia fine gold proof set including 1 ozt, ½ ozt, ¼ ozt, and 1/10 ozt;
- 22K yellow gold necklace, 30.5 dwt;
- 1924 St. Gaudens twenty-dollar gold coin NGC MS62;
- 1904 Liberty Head twenty-dollar gold coin NGC MS62;
- 1965 British gold sovereign bracelet; and
- 14K yellow gold cocktail ring with a step cut aquamarine, 40 ct, and twelve round brilliant cut diamonds, color G, clarity VS2, .72 ctw, size 8, 12.15 dwt.
Treasury works with Pook & Pook, Inc., located in Downingtown for appraisal and auctioneer services. Anyone interested in bidding on items can register and preview items at pookandpook.com.
“The March 26 & 27 Coins & Jewelry auction is particularly special as it includes such a vast array of fascinating items from the vault of the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property,” said Deidre Pook Margarelli, President, Pook & Pook, Inc. “These treasures were once guarded by the state for years while awaiting return to their rightful owners. Pook & Pook has had the distinguished honor of working with the state and assisting with this important and incredibly diligent process for the past decade. We’re so excited to again be providing bidders with the rare opportunity to acquire these exceptional pieces over this two-day spring auction.”
Proceeds from items sold at auction are documented by Treasury and remain available for the rightful owner to claim at any time.
Any item listed for auction is subject to change prior to the auction if new information regarding the item’s authenticity, estimated value, quality or other determining factors are discovered. Treasury is notified of these changes. Treasury employees and their immediate family are prohibited from bidding.
Treasury’s last unclaimed property auction in the fall broke a record for the most amount of money generated, bringing in $605,000 from more than 5,700 items sold.
Prior to being auctioned, Treasury searches for the rightful owners for at least three years. Military decorations and memorabilia received as tangible unclaimed property are never auctioned, and Treasury will continue to search for the Veteran who earned them or their family.
Treasury is working to return more than $4.5 billion in unclaimed property owed to more than one in ten Pennsylvanians. The average claim is worth around $1,600.
Since taking office, Treasurer Garrity has returned more than $750 million worth of unclaimed property to hardworking Pennsylvanians, businesses, nonprofits and local government agencies.
To search for unclaimed property, visit patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property.
STACY GARRITY, STATE TREASURER
Information provided to TVL by:
Samantha Heckel
