ORLANDO, Fla. – Gold, silver, jewelry, foreign cash, a program from the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, sports cards, pogs and more are up for auction this weekend by the state of Florida.
The state is hosting its unclaimed property auction at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Holiday Inn Orlando International Airport on T.G. Lee Boulevard.
Some 512 lots are up for auction, ranging from $100 lots of pennies to Rolex and Cartier watches that are each worth thousands of dollars.
The items all come from safe deposit boxes. The banks that run the boxes turn the contents over to the Florida Division of Unclaimed Property when the rent on the boxes has not been paid for three consecutive years.
The bank has to try to contact the box renter before turning over the items. Then the division holds the items for at least two more years and tries to reach the owners.
According to the agency, if any unclaimed items are sold at auction, the money is credited to accounts that the owner or the owner’s heirs can claim if they come forward.
Many of the lots involve coins and cash. There are several lots of numismatic U.S. bank notes (cash that has unique markings or serial numbers, lots of gold coins, foreign cash, gold ingots, silver and copper bars.
Jewelry lots include costume pieces, ropes of pearls and gold, earrings, and rings with large stones. A pair of platinum and diamond brooches has a starting reserve of $24,000, for instance. A lot of loose diamonds have a starting reserve bid of $7,000.
Then there are the lots of miscellaneous items. These lots include an eclectic mix of items -- silverware, a copy of “A Handmaid’s Tale,” a ticket to the 1975 Ali vs. Fraser fight, a program from the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Montblanc pens, possible silver Spanish shipwreck coins (they haven’t been authenticated), baseball, football and basketball cards, DVDs for the “Columbo” TV series, and even a sleeve of what appear to be football team themed pogs.
An auction catalog and pictures of the lots are currently up on the state website FL Treasure Hunt.gov. You can also visit the lots at the hotel on Friday during a preview period that runs until 5 p.m.