Going once, going twice, and sold: How to claim your cash | Events

SALEM, Ore. - More than 360 items were set up for viewing in a large Salem hall Saturday ... items that used to be treasures to someone, and were then forgotten in safe deposit boxes around the state.

After a number of years, when banks and the state can't find the owner, the items inside become "unclaimed" and eventually go into the state's annual auction. That means everything from coins, jewelry, stamps, comic books and just about about anything of value goes to the highest bidder.

For those bidding on the items Saturday, it was a fun adventure. "This is kind of a gamble," said one auction goer, who said his name was Don. "But at least we've got something to show for our money, and I'm sure that we're going to find out that we did OK."

For those whose items were bid on, there's still a way to recoup the value of the abandoned safe-deposit box contents.

"We are, in one way, glad to see it go because we only have limited room," said Patrick Tate, the state's unclaimed property manager, "but we also feel a little sad for the [original] owners."

If you think some of your property may have been among the auction items, it's not too late to claim it. While you won't be able to get back the actual goods, you can get the cash.  

To claim the proceeds from property that belonged to you or a loved one, or to find out if you're on the state's unclaimed property list, visit this link:

• http://www.oregon.gov/DSL/UP/index.shtml

Your chances are pretty good you'll find something in the state's unclaimed database. One hundred thousand new names have been added to the list just this year.

As for the auction itself, there are diehards who come back year after year. (The next auction  likely will be in March 2011.)

"You never know what you're going to find," said bidder Robert Moller. "That's half the fun of it."

Moller picked up some jewelry for his wife: "Both the cameo and the rings are for my wife," he said. "The comic books are for me."

But there's also the down-right random.

One bidder, who said his name was Doug, had the highest bid on a German passport from 1919. What is he going to do with that? "I don't know," Doug said, "[but] we got it."

With many of the owners gone, and their families untraceable, at least the state can take the money raised at the auction, tag it to the unclaimed name on the account, and use the interest on that money for state expenses such as education.

While organizers normally expect standing-room only, this year's March 27 auction brought in considerably fewer bidders. And that meant much better odds - and lower winning bids - for those that did attend.

So, for the diehards who wait all year, it was the payoff they had been waiting for.

"We're hoping that's gold; you know, I'm sure it probably is," said bidder Doug. "We've got a lot of work to do when we get home to figure out what we picked up."