Stored inside a secure vault in Florida’s capital city, millions of dollars worth of unclaimed property sits, just waiting to be collected by rightful owners.
From silverware to diamond rings, and rare coins to vintage baseball cards, the vault contains valuables left dormant in bank safe deposit boxes.
Once a safe deposit box has been abandoned for three years, banks send the contents to the state vault, where items are held for another two years.
After that time, in order to save room, the items are auctioned off.
The next unclaimed property auction will be held this Saturday, August 13 in Tampa.
Florida’s Division of Unclaimed Property director Walter Graham has seen just about anything you can think of come through the vault over the years.
“Gold, silver, all types of watches, jewelry, rings, bracelets, necklaces, pearls, diamonds, silverware, collectables, sports stuff, baseball cards, all that sort of thing… you name it, we’ve got it,” said Graham.
Once an item is auctioned off, its rightful owner can still come forward and collect the money made from the sale.
Beyond tangible antiques, a majority of the state’s unclaimed property is paper assets like stock dividends, paychecks, and bank savings accounts.
For more information on this weekend’s auction, or to check if you have unclaimed property, visit the website www.FLTreasureHunt.org.
It is free to search and make a claim.
