State Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced recently that Treasury’s fall unclaimed property auction brought in more than $298,000, the most ever generated by an unclaimed property auction in Pennsylvania.

All proceeds are logged by Treasury and will remain available for the rightful owners to claim no matter how much time passes.

“This is outstanding news, and we’re very pleased that the auction generated such an incredible result,” Garrity said. “We work for at least three years to find the rightful owners of every item that comes to Treasury’s vault. But eventually, we do have to auction items to make room for incoming property. All auction proceeds remain at Treasury for a rightful owner to claim anytime - whether that’s tomorrow, a few months from now, or many years down the road.”

More than 4,200 items were sold during the auction that took place online on Oct. 25-26. Treasury partners with Pook & Pook, Inc., of Downingtown for auctioneer services.

The highest selling price of a Treasury item was $27,000 for a collection of 25 early baseball tobacco cards, including Cy Young, Pennsylvania’s own Christy Mathewson and other Hall of Famers. Other high-price items included:

• US Proof Set of collectible coins sold for $7,500;

• Two platinum and diamond engagement rings sold for $6,500 each;

• 14K white gold ring with a 3.6 carat pear-shaped diamond sold for $4,400;

• Vietnamese gold bars sold for $2,200;

• $20 Gold St. Gaudens Double Eagle coin sold for $1,800.

Treasury expects to net $298,029 after Pook & Pook receives its 12 percent commission of the full auction total of $338,670. The profits from the auction were more than $60,000 over the estimate.

Items that are not sold, or those not paid for by a winning bidder, are returned to Treasury to be listed in future auctions.

Treasury receives unclaimed property from businesses if the property has been dormant for three years. Tangible property, most often the contents of forgotten about safe deposit boxes, is stored in Treasury’s vault for another three years while Treasury tries to find the rightful owners. Treasury never auctions military decorations or memorabilia.

More than $4.5 billion in unclaimed property is available to be claimed. More than one in 10 Pennsylvanians is owed unclaimed property, and the average claim is worth about $1,600.

To learn more about unclaimed property or to search Treasury’s database, visit patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property.