Minnesota Department of Commerce puts unclaimed 'treasures' up for auction

The Minnesota Department of Commerce will unload "potential treasures" in an Unclaimed Property Online Auction next month.

With help from Fahey Sales – a local auctioneer and appraisal company – the state agency is putting more than 700 unclaimed "treasures" up for auction.

Bidding will begin on Wednesday, Aug. 31, at 11:59 p.m. CDT, and the auction will run until Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 2 p.m. CDT, according to the auction website. 

LARGEST WHITE DIAMOND EVER GOING TO AUCTION HAS POTENTIAL $30M VALUE

Current items up for sale include jewelry, coins, old dollar bills, collectible cards, silverware, keychains, medallions, tokens, stamps, buttons and silver bars, according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce.

"Many potentially valuable items stored in safety-deposit boxes go uncollected after the leases on the boxes end," the Minnesota Department of Commerce wrote on its site about its Unclaimed Property Auction.

"Under Minnesota law, banks must turn over the property to Commerce after trying to find the owner," the agency continued. "State law also requires Commerce to conduct periodic auctions of the unclaimed items."

The department says property usually goes unclaimed when an owner dies and their heir or next of kin are unaware that possessions have been left in their names.

Businesses and organizations in the state who have lost contact with a property owner "for a specific number of years" are required to hand over items to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, the department says.

ULYSSES S. GRANT REVOLVER SET SOLD FOR $5.17M AT AUCTION

The department holds items for a set number of years in hopes of reuniting Minnesotans with lost family treasures, but rightful owners can’t always be found.

Common pieces of unclaimed property include dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, unclaimed wages, insurance claim payments or benefits, stocks or bonds and safe deposit boxes, according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce.

Minnesotans can search their names or a family member’s name on the department’s Minnesota Unclaimed Property Website, which is minnesota.findyourunclaimedproperty.com.

"Under Minnesota law, the statute of limitations is generally 10 years after the filing of a report," the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants wrote in reference to unclaimed property reports.

STEVE JOBS' ORIGINAL APPLE 1 COMPUTER PROTOTYPE UP FOR AUCTION 

"Retain applicable documents, including copies of all filed reports and remittances, before the expiration of the statute of limitations," the MNCPA continued. "If a holder is unable to produce records, auditors may attempt to estimate past-due liability for years without records."

FOX Business reached out to Fahey Sales and the Minnesota Department of Commerce for comment.

"This auction of unclaimed safety-deposit boxes offers Minnesotans the opportunity to discover potential treasures or connect with history through the mementoes of other eras," the department wrote in a news release on Wednesday.

The treasures that are going to auction because they remain unclaimed will be held at the Fahey Sales Auctioneers & Appraisers location at 2910 9th Street in Glencoe, Minnesota, which is about an hour's drive west from Minneapolis.

Terms of the auction state that winning bidders must submit their payments within 24 hours of the auction’s conclusion, Fahey Sales wrote on its website.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Fees might apply depending on the payment method that’s used, according to the department, according to the company.