IL unclaimed property auction to be held in May; items offered include coins, currency, jewelry

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WLS) -- Collectible coins, currency, fine silver and jewelry are among the more than 200 unclaimed property items to be auctioned online from May 1 through 5.

"We hold these auctions when we need additional space in our vault," said Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs, whose office oversees unclaimed property in Illinois. "We choose items that typically have not been touched in about 10 years and that would make an interesting gift."

Items to be auctioned include three graded Silver Eagle coins, a 14-karat rose gold woman's hand-designed ring, a 24-karat stamped yellow gold bangle bracelet, and an 18-karat white with black rhodium gold woman's cast halo ring containing a jelly opal.

Among the other available items are uncut sheets of U.S. $1 bills and $2 bills, a variety of international bank notes, an Elgin pocket watch with chain, and several ounces of .999 fine silver, including Englehard bars.

All auction proceeds will be held for the owners.

RELATED: Illinois treasurer returns $22.7M in unclaimed property back to owners

To view auction items, go to ibid.illinois.gov and select the tab labeled "Storefronts." Scroll down to the Illinois State Treasurer Unclaimed Property Auction, select it and then click on the tab labeled "Upcoming Store Items."

To be eligible to participate in the auction, prospective bidders must register with iBid if they haven't previously done so.

Go to ibid.illinois.gov and select the tab labeled "Register now."

For questions, call 217-557-8567.

An estimated one-in-four adults in Illinois who search the state's unclaimed property website, also known as iCash, find unclaimed property that should be returned to them.

The average claim is $1,000.