DES MOINES, IA (04/10/2018) (readMedia)-- State Treasurer Michael L. Fitzgerald announced today that he'll be resuming Great Iowa Treasure Hunt eBay auctions. Beginning April 10, the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt will be hosting the online auction of contents from abandoned safe deposit boxes that were turned over to the Treasurer's Office. "We work very hard to find the rightful owners of these boxes and return the contents to them," Fitzgerald stated. "As Iowa financial institutions deliver new contents to our office we have to make room in the vault. Therefore, we are selling contents that we have held for over five years."
The upcoming auction will begin on Tuesday, April 10 and will close April 17. Many items in the auction are one-of-a-kind or collectibles that were turned over to the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt. Treasures in this online auction will include a two-piece wedding band set; peace dollars; silver platted spoons; and 20 morgan silver dollars dated 1921. Visit Great Iowa Treasure Hunt's eBay page at myworld.ebay.com/ia.unclaimed.property at the time of the auction to bid on these treasures.
Items included in the auction are from abandoned safe deposit boxes reported to the state treasurer as unclaimed property by financial institutions across the state. Photos, letters and other personal memorabilia will not be included in the auction. The auction proceeds are held for the rightful owners should they come forward.
Every year, millions of dollars in abandoned property is turned over to the State Treasurer's office. Unclaimed property refers to money and other assets held by financial institutions, businesses and other organizations that have lost contact with the owner for a specific period of time. Common forms of unclaimed property include checking and saving accounts, court deposits, stocks, dividends, gift certificates, life insurance policies, utility deposits, refunds, rebates, wages, and abandoned safe deposit boxes.
Search the unclaimed property database to see if the state treasurer has property belonging to you at GreatIowaTreasureHunt.gov. For information about future auctions, keep up with all of our programs on social media.
