Minnesota Unclaimed Property Going Up for Auction Online

One man's unclaimed property is another man's bargain. The Minnesota Department of Commerce is currently holding the state’s first online auction of unclaimed property from abandoned safe deposit boxes. Most of these items were put in deposit boxes, because they had some value. There are a lot of collectibles like Twins memorabilia, HAMM's beer items, collectible coins, and of course, diamond jewelry. The auction started back on Wednesday July 18th, and goes all the way through August 1st at 6 PM.

So where does the money made from the auction go? Auction proceeds are going to be held in a trust that can be claimed by the original property owners or their rightful heirs. So while they might not get a family heirloom back, they will get the money for it which is better than nothing. The Commerce Department has returned nearly $180 million in unclaimed property to Minnesotans in the past 5 years alone! If you think there is unclaimed property in your name, you can search for it at missingmoney.com.

A few oddball things I have seen on the auction: