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Items include gold, jewelry, and collectibles
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Nov. 10, 2022 – Collectible coins, gold and silver jewelry, artwork, sports memorabilia, and more.
The Department of Revenue, in conjunction with James G. Murphy Co., will auction the contents of hundreds of unclaimed safe deposit boxes during an online auction Nov. 10-17.
More than 3,500 items are up for auction, including collectible coins, gold and silver jewelry, sports memorabilia, stamps, and other rare items, including an 1860 campaign button for Abraham Lincoln. Bidders can look through the items online by visiting Murphy’s website.
The auction inventory can be viewed in person from 8 a.m.- 4 p.m. each day, Nov. 15-16 at the James G. Murphy facility, 18226 – 68th Ave. N.E., Kenmore. Representatives from Revenue will be available during the in-person viewings to answer questions about Unclaimed Property and the safe deposit box auction.
All of the auction items were turned over to Revenue after financial institutions lost touch with owners and rental fees went unpaid for a period of time. State law requires Revenue to auction off the contents if the owners haven’t claimed the property within five years from the time it was turned over to the state. The state doesn’t profit from the sale of the unclaimed items. All cash proceeds, minus auction and bank fees, are held in the safe deposit box owner’s name for the owner or an heir to claim.
To find out if Revenue is holding your property from an abandoned safe deposit box or other unclaimed property, check your name on the Department of Revenue’s Unclaimed Property website, claimyourcash.org. Owners can claim their property until the item is auctioned by immediately initiating a claim.
Revenue’s Unclaimed Property program has been conducting safe deposit box auctions since 1983. This is the agency’s 16th auction.
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