State Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced that the state will hold an Illinois unclaimed money auction on August 17th at the state fairgrounds.
According to his press release:
“We are excited to bring the unclaimed property auction back to the Illinois State Fair to give the
Illinois State Treasurer‘
public another opportunity to bid on rare, valuable items,” Frerichs said. “To get a sneak peak of
the auction items, we encourage collectors to join us for our preview events in Chicago and
Springfield.”
These items total over $150,000 in value and will be auctioned off on the Lincoln stage at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. Some items include:
- An 1854 Indian Princess three-dollar gold coin
- A 1984 Chicago Cubs Baseball signed by Ryne Sandberg
- An 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition ticket
- An 1899 large size five dollar silver certificate
- 4 uncirculated Carson City Morgan dollars
- A 100 ounce .999 silver bar
- Matching 18K bracelet and necklace with small sapphires
- Other rare coins and jewelry.
Illinois Unclaimed Money Timeline
One of the many questions surrounding these items is how they become unclaimed. When it comes to unclaimed property, typically these items are found in abandoned safe deposit boxes. While every attempt is made to reunite these items with their rightful owners, Illinois unclaimed money officials have not been able to locate them. After a 10 year period, In Illinois, the state can put these items up for auction to free up space for the new items being added to the coffers weekly. All proceeds from this auction will be held indefinitely until the rightful owners can be identified.
If you live in Illinois, and would like to preview these items, there will be two opportunities to do so. Monday July 29th in Springfield at the State Capital in the first floor rotunda. The second opportunity is Monday August 5th in Chicago at the James R Thompson Center Atrium.