Sneak Peek of RI Unclaimed Property Auction
Items include a $30,000 paper weight and the double stamped ‘holy grail of pennies’
- Rhode Island is auctioning thousands of unclaimed items from safe deposit boxes and other sources.
- The auction includes jewelry, gold coins, silver bars, and other valuables left unclaimed for years.
- Original owners or their heirs can claim the proceeds from the sale of their items.
An elderly woman stashes her diamonds in a bank safe deposit box but forgets to tell her children, so no heirs come forward to claim the jewels after she dies.
A man removes his gold watch before undergoing emergency surgery, but forgets to retrieve it when he leaves the hospital in a fog.
An ex-convict never reclaims the silver belt buckle he was wearing when he entered prison, opting to make a fresh start and abandon any reminders of his old life.
Eventually, all that unclaimed property makes its way to a vault in the basement of the Rhode Island Office of the General Treasurer, off Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick. And when space starts getting tight, the state sells the valuables to the highest bidder.
This Saturday, Nov. 8, General Treasurer James Diossa will hold the first unclaimed property auction in more than a decade. The public will be able to bid on roughly 5,000 abandoned or long-lost items that are being sold in 420 lots, according to his office.
Among the items for sale: a silver Gorham tea set, Tiffany flatware, jewelry, watches, gold coins, silver bars and vintage paper currency.
“Don’t mind the pun, but it’s a golden opportunity,” said auctioneer Jack Martone of Martone’s Auction. The last auction, which took place 11 years ago, brought in roughly $384,000, he said.
Items’ owners can claim proceeds from auction
An unclaimed property auction might sound like the equivalent of checking your couch cushions and car seats for spare change, and there’s no doubt that the state could use some extra cash right now.
But the money has strings attached. If an item’s rightful owner later emerges, they’re entitled to the proceeds from the sale, said Carol Aguasvivas, director of unclaimed property for the treasurer’s office.
“The funds are always available for the original owner to claim,” she said. “We hold them in perpetuity.”
So why go to the trouble of holding an auction?
Out of thousands of items that end up in the vault, only about 13 get returned in an average year, Aguasvivas explained. There’s only so much space, and storing other people’s valuables raises liability concerns.
The vault isn’t climate-controlled, she added, so finding new homes for unclaimed items can help ensure they’re properly preserved.
“We try to keep the items in good condition, but after a while, if something’s stored in the basement for 10, 12 years, it’s not going to be the same,” she said.
When do valuables become ‘unclaimed property’?
The unclaimed property division of the state treasurer’s office, which has a staff of six, effectively serves as a lost-and-found for Rhode Islanders’ valuables. Aguasvivas said that one of the most memorable items that’s turned up was an urn containing someone’s ashes.
Returning lost property is extremely difficult when the original owner is truly unknown, Aguasvivas said. But that’s not always the case. Valuables stored in safe deposit boxes routinely wind up in state custody because their owner stopped paying the rent – possibly because they moved into an assisted-living facility, or died.
Under state law, banks have to wait three years and send a written notice to the owner’s last known address before a safe deposit box can be considered abandoned. According to the treasurer’s office, they typically mail multiple letters and try to reach the owner by phone.
If no one comes forward, the contents become unclaimed property – but they can still potentially be reclaimed by the original owners’ heirs.
Representatives from the treasurer’s office attend 50 to 60 events a year to encourage people to check the state’s unclaimed property database, which is searchable online at findrimoney.gov. Aguasvivas hopes the auction will also help get the word out.
She recommends looking up deceased relatives, in addition to searching for your own name. Items like gold chains and pocket watches will be listed as “tangible property.”
Highlights include gold paperweight, ‘Holy Grail for pennies’
As a courtesy, the treasurer’s office waits at least a year and one day before selling unclaimed property, Aguasvivas said. But valuables routinely linger in the vault even longer than that, until the state accumulates enough items to justify holding an auction.
“Some items for sale this weekend have gone unclaimed for 13 years,” Aguasvivas said. “The younger of the items, we’ve had for at least five years.”
With gold prices at a record high, Martone expects that a solid 18-karat gold paperweight will draw the highest price in Saturday’s auction. It weighs a little over 8 ounces, which translates to roughly $25,000 worth of gold, he said.
Carla Rojo, a spokeswoman for the treasurer’s office, said Martone spent months weighing and testing the items that will be included in the auction. However, the conditions of sale specify that neither he nor the State of Rhode Island are responsible for their authenticity.
During a preview for members of the media, plastic bags stuffed with dimes and quarters were also on display. Martone explained that the coins were made during the era when the U.S. Mint used real silver – which is now worth more than their face value as currency.
A penny from 1955 looked equally unassuming, but Martone explained that it has a rare “double stamp” – a minting error that means it could sell for $2,000 or up.
“That’s the Holy Grail for pennies,” Martone said.
Martone said the auction will give collectors the opportunity to purchase rare items that rarely go up for sale. But buyers can also potentially find deals, since there is no reserve price and no minimum starting bid.
“It’s all got to be sold,” he said. “It’s like a blue light special at Kmart.”
The auction will take place on Saturday, Nov. 8, at noon at the Department of Administration Building on Capitol Hill in Providence. Public viewings will take place Friday, Nov. 7, from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 8 ,from 9 a.m. to noon.