IL Unclaimed Property Auction: Buy Jewelry, Coins, More

SPRINGFIELD, IL — More than 200 pieces of unclaimed property including collectable coins, currency, fine jewelry and other valuable items will be put up for auction next week, the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office announced this week.

The State Treasurer’s Office is considered the custodian of unclaimed property, including lost bank accounts, insurance policies, safe deposit boxes and other items. The office attempts, in some cases for several years, to attempt to find the rightful owners of these items, but once 10 years have passed with no one claiming the items, the items go into an online action.

This year’s auction will begin on Monday and run through May 5, the state agency announced.

Items to be auctioned include three graded Silver Eagle coins, a 14-karat rose gold woman’s hand-designed ring, a 24-karat stamped yellow gold bangle bracelet, and an 18-karat white with black rhodium gold woman’s cast halo ring containing a jelly opal, according to a news release.

Among the other available items are uncut sheets of U.S. $1 bills and $2 bills, a variety of international bank notes, an Elgin pocket watch with chain, and several ounces of .999 fine silver, including Englehard bars.

To view auction items, click here and select the tab labeled “Storefronts.” Scroll down to the Illinois State Treasurer Unclaimed Property Auction, select it and then click on the tab labeled “Upcoming Store Items.”

“We hold these auctions when we need additional space in our vault,” said Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs, whose office oversees unclaimed property in Illinois. “We choose items that typically have not been touched in about 10 years and that would make an interesting gift.”

The Treasurer’s Office conducts online auctions of unclaimed property periodically throughout the year. The office also conducts an annual, in-person auction of unclaimed property during the Illinois State Fair in August.

To be eligible to participate in the auction, prospective bidders must register with iBid if they haven’t previously done so. The registration process is simple: Click here and select the tab labeled “Register now”.