HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania will auction approximately 6,000 unclaimed items online Oct. 28, including jewelry, gold coins, watches and precious metals, as the state Treasury Department moves property out of storage while preserving the proceeds for rightful owners.
State Treasurer Stacy Garrity said the fall auction will be conducted through Pook & Pook, an auction house that works with Treasury to prepare and sell property held in the state’s vault.
The sale includes valuables that most often enter Treasury custody through abandoned safe deposit boxes. State law allows the department to sell such property while retaining the proceeds indefinitely for the owners or their heirs.
Among the items scheduled for auction are a platinum ring featuring a 6.11-carat round diamond surrounded by 38 single-cut diamonds and an 18-karat yellow gold Omega wristwatch with a matching gold band.
Other listed items include a 1907-S Liberty Head $20 gold coin with a 22-karat gold mount and a 14-karat yellow gold chain with a green-stone slider charm and a gold-filled Waltham pocket watch.
“Our partners at Pook & Pook work closely with us to make sure our items are ready for auction and to go to successful bidders to help make room in Treasury’s vault,” Garrity said.
Prospective buyers can register to participate at pookandpook.com.
Treasury cautioned that the inventory may change before the auction if questions arise concerning an item’s authenticity, estimated value or other discrepancies. Treasury employees and their immediate family members are prohibited from bidding.
The auction is part of Pennsylvania’s broader unclaimed property program, which holds more than $5 billion owed to individuals, businesses and other organizations.
Unclaimed property includes dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, forgotten stocks, insurance policies and tangible valuables. Treasury estimates that more than one in 10 Pennsylvanians are owed property, with the average claim exceeding $1,000.
The department has returned more than $1.2 billion in unclaimed property since Garrity took office, including a record of more than $334 million last year.
Unlike an ordinary liquidation of government assets, the auction does not extinguish the original owner’s financial claim. Proceeds from the sale remain available for the rightful owner to recover at any time.
Pennsylvanians can search for unclaimed property and submit claims through searchandclaimpa.gov.
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