DV Journal

(From a press release.)

Treasurer Stacy Garrity today announced that the next online auction of unclaimed property will take place on Wednesday, March 27. This auction includes jewelry, currency, precious metals, and many other items that have been safeguarded in Treasury’s vault for more than three years.

“Our first priority is always to return unclaimed property to the rightful owners,” Treasurer Garrity said. “But even though we have the largest working vault in the nation, we constantly receive new unclaimed property and need to make room for it. We work to find the rightful owner of every piece of tangible unclaimed property for at least three years before anything is sent to auction. And auction proceeds are carefully tracked and will always remain available for the owner to claim – whether that happens next month or 50 years from now.”

Treasury partners with Pook & Pook, Inc., in Downingtown for appraisal and auctioneer services. Items up for auction can be previewed at pookandpook.com. Interested bidders should register on Pook & Pook’s website as soon as possible. More than 4,350 items from Treasury’s vault will be available to bid on.

Some of the valuable and interesting items in the upcoming auction include:

• 14K gold and enamel lorgnette (opera glasses);
• 27.22 ounces of palladium (a form of platinum);
• 1908 St. Gaudens $20 gold coin;
• 18K white gold watch with emerald-cut marquise diamond;
• Antique jewelry, including a hair locket with an inscription from 1829;
• Johnson Matthey 100 oz. silver bar;
• 14K yellow gold rosary and prayer beads;
• Andre Harvey 14K yellow gold frog necklace;
• Platinum ring with 1.71 carat diamond; and
• A 1906-D Liberty Head $20 gold coin.

“Pook & Pook is so excited for our first Coins & Jewelry Auction of 2024!” said Deirdre Pook Magarelli, President of Pook & Pook Inc. “Treasures abound in this incredible collection of coins, jewelry and more, and we are delighted to once again be working with the wonderful team from the Pennsylvania Treasury Department.”

Any item listed in the auction is subject to change at any time prior to the sale in the case of new information regarding an item’s authenticity, estimated value, quality, or other determining factor. Treasury is notified of these changes.

Treasury employees and their immediate family are prohibited from bidding.

Military decorations and memorabilia that come to Treasury as unclaimed property are never auctioned and will remain in Treasury’s care until the veteran who earned them or their family is found.

Treasury is working to return more than $4.5 billion in unclaimed property owed to more than one in ten Pennsylvanians. The average claim is worth around $1,600.

Search for unclaimed property anytime.

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From a press release

Treasurer Stacy Garrity today announced that the upcoming online auction of unclaimed property will take place Wednesday, April 12, and Thursday, April 13. This auction includes fine jewelry, coins, currency, and many other items that have been safeguarded in Treasury’s vault. The majority of Treasury’s items will be featured on April 12.

“We have the largest working vault in the nation, but we’re constantly receiving new unclaimed property,” Garrity said. “Sometimes, we have to auction off items to make space for that incoming property. We’ve worked for at least three years to find the rightful owner of every item being auctioned. I hope that learning about this auction will inspire more Pennsylvanians to see if they have any unclaimed property waiting by searching here.”

Treasury partners with Pook & Pook, Inc., in Downingtown for appraisal and auctioneer services. Items up for auction can be previewed here.  Interested bidders can also register on Pook & Pook’s website.

The auction will feature 4,250 items from Treasury’s vault, including:

• A 14K two-tone gold stick pin brooch with 2-carat diamond;
• Multiple Engelhard 100 Troy ounce 999+ fine silver bars;
• $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle gold coins;
• One-ounce fine gold Canadian $50 Maple Leaf coins;
• Morgan dollars;
• An 18K yellow gold George Melleze pocket watch with a silver-colored key attached; and
• Various comic books and magazines.

All Treasury items listed in the auction are subject to change at any time prior to the sale. In this case, Treasury is made aware of changes that may be made due to new information regarding an item’s authenticity, change in value, quality or other determining factor.

“There are some remarkable items available to bid on in this auction,” Garrity said. “Any proceeds will be carefully tracked – and will always be available for the rightful owner to claim any time, even years or decades from now.”

Unclaimed property comes to Treasury in accordance with state law. Tangible property, like the items being auctioned, most often comes from abandoned safe deposit boxes, with other items coming from college dorms, nursing homes, or police evidence rooms. Unclaimed property also includes balances of forgotten bank accounts, uncashed checks, stocks, insurance policies and more.

The online auctions will also include items from other consignors. Treasury items may be combined into lots but will never be comingled with non-Treasury items. Treasury employees and immediate family members are prohibited from bidding in the auctions.

Property is safeguarded in the vault for at least three years before being auctioned. Treasury updates its unclaimed property records to reflect the proceeds from an item’s sale, so if a rightful owner comes forward the proceeds are available to claim.

About one in ten Pennsylvanians is owed some of the more than $4 billion in unclaimed property. The average value of a claim is $1,600.

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Step into the New Holland Sales Stable and it feels like you have entered another era when the pace of life was slower, more rural, and people knew their neighbors.

At least everyone seemed to know Mike Marino, owner of the Red Buffalo Ranch, a riding stable in Skippack. Marino sometimes buys horses from the New Holland auction in Lancaster County, but he is more likely to purchase saddles, bridles, or other tack there.

He usually acquires mounts for the Red Buffalo from a trusted dealer, he said. And sometimes people give him horses they are no longer able to take care of, knowing the animals will have a good home.

After watching an auction of saddles, horse blankets, bridles, and other new and used farm equipment, we walked through the stable areas where around 50 horses, ponies, and mules were tied up and waiting to be auctioned off.

The animals were of every size, color, and description, some too skinny, others in good shape. Would-be buyers patted the and inspected their hooves and mouths. Kids pulled at their parents’ sleeves, pointing to particularly desirable ponies.

We returned to seats on worn, wooden bleachers to watch the auction. The auctioneer described each horse: A mare or a gelding, approximate age, whether it was gentle or needed an experienced rider. There were several handsome draft horses and two sleek gaited Tennessee Walkers that day, as well as a Thoroughbred.

The horses were sold “as is” if under $1,000. Otherwise, the auction offered a one-week guarantee.

Like the horses, people from all walks of life filled the bleachers. Many were Amish or Mennonite.

Riders, including two Mennonite girls in long dresses, piloted the horses onto the auction floor. They skillfully pirouetted and put them through their paces in the enclosed space as the auctioneer described their mounts and the bidding began. Others, including draft horses, were led out as the auctioneer called out their characteristics. This one was a trotter who could pull a carriage, that one a good trail horse.

Winning bids ranged from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Marino noted auction prices spiked after people received their COVID stimulus checks but have fallen recently.

The auction has been in the Mennonite community since the 1920s. The Kolb family has owned it, with partners, since the 1970s. The current owner is David Kolb.

Auction manager Ryan Kolb said a veterinarian checks the horses before they are accepted for sale. Any horse that is sick or injured is not sold.

“He makes sure they are fit for sale,” said Kolb.

If not accepted for auction, the horse is returned to its owner. People who do not want to keep their horses are given the names of horse rescues. New Holland auctions horses every Monday morning.

Last year, the livestock auction sold 12,718 horses and 166,136 cattle. It also sold 214,080 sheep and goats and 42,913 hogs.

Craftsman Mervin Martin with some sleigh bells that he made.

Every year, kids who go to the summer riding camp at the Red Buffalo spend a morning at the horse auction. That day a group of campers arrived with their counselors and some parents in tow.

“I thought it was nice,” said camper Caroline Dagge, 11, of Ridley. “I thought all of the horses were really pretty.”

Piper Williams, 8, of King of Prussia, agreed the horses were “really pretty. I really enjoyed the auction. I think they were reasonable prices.”

Rachel Corropolese, 19, of Skippack, was a former Red Buffalo camper who now works at the riding stable and also at her family’s bakery.

“Whenever I’m needed, I’m here,” she said. She went to the auction as a camper and now enjoys coming back to help shepherd the current campers.

In the parking lot outside the auction stables, vendors set up tables or opened the doors of campers to display their wares. There were saddles, bridles, ropes, riding boots, saddle blankets, and anything an equestrian might need or be tempted to buy.

Mervin Martin, 62, who lives near the auction, said he has been working with leather most of his life.

“My dad had a tack shop,” he said. “I loved the smell of leather.” He began making things when he was 18 or 19 years old, and his camper full of handmade items attested to his prowess.

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