Abandoned valuables head to eBay

Items for an eBay auction were displayed yesterday. State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill will auction the abandoned property in lots beginning Thursday. (Globe Staff Photo / Jonathan Wiggs)

There are baubles, and there is bullion.

There's also cash, a colorful assortment from different countries, but much of it is in small denominations, including stacks of one- and two-dollar bills.

State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill yesterday displayed a host of abandoned property that his office will auction on eBay starting at noon on Thursday.

The valuables come from safe deposit boxes in the state that have not been maintained for seven years and were turned over to the Treasury Department's Abandoned Property Division.

Treasury officials said they have failed to find the owners or heirs of the property, which has been appraised and prepared for auction. Proceeds will go to the state's general fund but remain available for the owners, if they are identified.

"One in every 10 people has unclaimed property in Massachusetts, and we have over $1 billion in assets waiting to be claimed by rightful owners," Cahill said in a statement. "It is my goal to return as much of this property as possible to the residents and taxpayers."

He said he hoped the online auction - the fourth of its kind - would increase awareness of the state's unclaimed property and result in more residents claiming their property.

This year the most expensive items for sale are a Grant Wood gold medallion worth about $3,000 and a stack of similarly valued 25-year-old Japanese yen. The least valuable items include replicas of California bullion worth 50 cents apiece and assorted costume jewelry together worth $1. The total value of the property up for auction is between $30,000 and $40,000.

At the State House yesterday, other auction items on display included a 150-year-old book titled "The History of New Bedford," which was valued at $170; 36 red-sealed $2 bills, valued at face value; and bullion from Iran and Great Britain.

"For some of what's available, it's not so much about their rarity as what people need for their collection," said James F. Roy III, the tangible property manager of the department's Abandoned Property Division.

Financial assets that are inactive for three years or more are declared abandoned and turned over to the Treasury, according to state law. The contents of safe deposit boxes are held for seven years after the owner fails to pay annual rent and then turned over to the Treasury. If an owner is not found within a year, department officials have the property appraised and put up for auction.

Since 2003, the Treasury has returned nearly $257 million in abandoned property to its owners or heirs, officials said.

Earlier this year, Cahill said former Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and actors Ben and Casey Affleck were among 40,000 individuals and businesses on the state's abandoned property list.

The abandoned property up for auction this week will be listed at www.findmassmoney.com.

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.