Jewelry, rare currency and sports memorabilia are among the items going up for bid during an online auction conducted by the Nebraska State Treasurer’s Office.
The auction will begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, and continue for seven days, ending shortly before 8 a.m. Oct. 13. Bidding will take place through the unclaimed property eBay page
Items include a two-carat white gold diamond ring, a 14-karat gold mesh purse, a 1961 Roger Maris baseball card and a 1934 $500 Federal Reserve note. Silver dollars, a gold watch, silver certificates, a sterling silverware set and a 1995 Sports Illustrated commemorating Nebraska’s national championship will also be available.
The items came from abandoned safe deposit boxes turned over to the state more than a decade ago. Safe deposit box contents are the only physical property received by Nebraska’s Unclaimed Property Division.
“Multiple efforts have been made over several years to locate the original owners of these items, but those efforts have been unsuccessful,” State Treasurer Joey Spellerberg said. “The auction gives these items a new home while preserving the proceeds for their rightful owners.”
The proceeds from each sale will be recorded under the original owner’s name and held until that person or a rightful heir comes forward. All auction items were inspected and appraised by longtime independent Lincoln appraiser Tom Bassett.
Employees of the Treasurer’s Office and their immediate families are not allowed to bid. Nebraskans can search for money or property being held in their names here.
Since Nebraska’s unclaimed property law took effect in the late 1960s, the state has returned more than $317 million to rightful owners. The Treasurer’s Office says about one in five Nebraskans has unclaimed property.