DV Journal

(From a press release)

Treasurer Stacy Garrity today announced that 500 military decorations and memorabilia have been returned to Veterans and their families since she took office in 2021.

“As state treasurer, I safeguard every taxpayer dollar, but one of my favorite parts of the job isn’t about the money at all – it’s the work Treasury does to honor and thank our Veterans and their families by returning military medals that become unclaimed property,” Treasurer Garrity said. “Each item that comes to our vault is an important part of someone’s story, and returning each one to the rightful owner who earned it or their family is a way to show our gratitude for their immense sacrifices for our nation’s defense.”

The 500 medals and memorabilia returned by Treasurer Garrity include 12 Purple Hearts, three Bronze Stars and one Gold Star Medal.

Treasury’s vault in Harrisburg still holds about 500 military decorations, including those from every branch of service and most major conflicts. Items include medals, pins, buttons, ribbons and more. Military decorations most often come to Treasury’s unclaimed property program as the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes.

“The team at Treasury is dedicated to finding the Veterans and families whose medals are in our care,” Treasurer Garrity said. “From cold calls to deep-dive internet searches, and digging through records, they leave no stone unturned in the search for a Veteran. As long as I’m Treasurer, we will never stop searching for the rightful owners. I encourage everyone to help us in the search for these Veterans and their families.”

Anyone can help find the owners of the medals in Treasury’s care by visiting patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property/Medals.

A few notable military returns include:

• A Bronze Star and engraved military funeral bullet casing to the family of Frank Musto, a U.S. Army Veteran who served his country during World War II. Musto, from Westmoreland County, enlisted when he was 19, and he was wounded in France. He was also the recipient of the Purple Heart, WWII Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, and European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

• Multiple Medals including the Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Korea Medal and Korean War Service 50th Anniversary Medal earned by the late Timothy Marahoris of Harrisburg were returned to the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral. Marahoris served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He had no living relatives, and his church family accepted his decorations in his honor.

• A Gold Star Mothers and Widows Pilgrimage Medal was returned to the Morrison family. The medal, presented to Agnes Morrison in 1933 when she visited her son, Joseph William Morrison’s grave in France. Morrison, from Schuylkill County, was a member of the 554th Ambulance Service in World War I. He was killed in action just ten days before the end of the war. He was also the recipient of the Croix de Guerre with palm for his bravery.

“As a Veteran myself, every return is near and dear to my heart,” Treasurer Garrity said. “It’s my solemn duty to make sure every medal in our care is returned to the Veteran who earned it or to their family who also made tremendous sacrifices for our country.”

Along with the hundreds of military decorations waiting to be reunited with Veterans, Treasurer Garrity is working to return more than $5 billion worth of unclaimed property in Treasury’s care. More than one in ten Pennsylvanians has unclaimed property, and the average value of a claim is $1,000. 

Unclaimed property includes things like dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, insurance policies, and more. Most tangible unclaimed property comes from abandoned safety deposit boxes and can include things like jewelry, baseball cards, and other collectibles and family valuables. Visit

Treasurer Stacy Garrity today announced that 500 military decorations and memorabilia have been returned to Veterans and their families since she took office in 2021.

“As state treasurer, I safeguard every taxpayer dollar, but one of my favorite parts of the job isn’t about the money at all – it’s the work Treasury does to honor and thank our Veterans and their families by returning military medals that become unclaimed property,” Treasurer Garrity said. “Each item that comes to our vault is an important part of someone’s story, and returning each one to the rightful owner who earned it or their family is a way to show our gratitude for their immense sacrifices for our nation’s defense.”

The 500 medals and memorabilia returned by Treasurer Garrity include 12 Purple Hearts, three Bronze Stars and one Gold Star Medal.

Treasury’s vault in Harrisburg still holds about 500 military decorations, including those from every branch of service and most major conflicts. Items include medals, pins, buttons, ribbons and more. Military decorations most often come to Treasury’s unclaimed property program as the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes.

“The team at Treasury is dedicated to finding the Veterans and families whose medals are in our care,” Treasurer Garrity said. “From cold calls to deep-dive internet searches, and digging through records, they leave no stone unturned in the search for a Veteran. As long as I’m Treasurer, we will never stop searching for the rightful owners. I encourage everyone to help us in the search for these Veterans and their families.”

Anyone can help find the owners of the medals in Treasury’s care by visiting.

A few notable military returns include:

• A Bronze Star and engraved military funeral bullet casing to the family of Frank Musto, a U.S. Army Veteran who served his country during World War II. Musto, from Westmoreland County, enlisted when he was 19, and he was wounded in France. He was also the recipient of the Purple Heart, WWII Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, and European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

• Multiple Medals including the Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Korea Medal and Korean War Service 50th Anniversary Medal earned by the late Timothy Marahoris of Harrisburg were returned to the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral. Marahoris served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He had no living relatives, and his church family accepted his decorations in his honor.

• A Gold Star Mothers and Widows Pilgrimage Medal was returned to the Morrison family. The medal, presented to Agnes Morrison in 1933 when she visited her son, Joseph William Morrison’s grave in France. Morrison, from Schuylkill County, was a member of the 554th Ambulance Service in World War I. He was killed in action just ten days before the end of the war. He was also the recipient of the Croix de Guerre with palm for his bravery.

“As a Veteran myself, every return is near and dear to my heart,” Treasurer Garrity said. “It’s my solemn duty to make sure every medal in our care is returned to the Veteran who earned it or to their family who also made tremendous sacrifices for our country.”

Along with the hundreds of military decorations waiting to be reunited with Veterans, Treasurer Garrity is working to return more than $5 billion worth of unclaimed property in Treasury’s care. More than one in ten Pennsylvanians has unclaimed property, and the average value of a claim is $1,000.

Unclaimed property includes things like dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, insurance policies, and more. Most tangible unclaimed property comes from abandoned safety deposit boxes and can include things like jewelry, baseball cards, and other collectibles and family valuables. Visit  to search for unclaimed property.

to search for unclaimed property.

When DVJournal asked Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity if she’s considering a 2026 run for governor, she said it’s a question she gets “every single day.”

In the lastest DVJournal podcast, Garrity said a race for governor — which would likely involve challenging incumbent Democrat Josh Shapiro — “is something I’m interested in.”

“The grassroots are, you know, solidly behind me,” Garrity said. “It’s something that I think about. But at the end of the day, we’ll have to see what the people want.

“Right now, I’m focused on serving and any way that I can serve, whether it’s in this role or a different role,” added Garrity. “It’s my honor. I mean, I always say every day that I get to wake up and serve Pennsylvanians is a blessing.”

In 2020, Garrity was viewed as a longshot candidate in a tough year for Republicans. She edged out incumbent Treasurer Joe Torsella by less than 0.8 percent of the vote.

Four years later, Garrity handily defeated her Democratic challenger Erin McClelland 52 to 46 percent, receiving more votes than anyone on the ballot except Donald Trump. (He narrowly edged her out as top vote-getter by 972 votes).

Long-time Republican consultant Charlie Gerow, with Quantum Communications, said Garrity would be a “formidable candidate.”

“She obviously did extremely well in the November elections. She’s been all over the state, constantly — she’s at every wake and wedding. And that will pay off.”

Asked about the difference between running in 2020 and 2024, Garrity said last November felt a lot more like 2016.

“It was a lot different (than 2020),” she said. “People had had it. They said, ‘Basically, enough is enough.’ They were tired of being told to ‘Sit down and shut up and don’t express your opinion.’ And so, you know what? They stood up.”

Shapiro is a star in the national Democratic Party who is widely expected to run for president in 2028 and was on Kamala Harris’ vice presidential shortlist in 2024. But he’s got to get through a 2026 general election first, and he may not have as easy a time of it as he did in 2022. (His GOP opponent, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, was underfunded and embraced far-right political positions. He lost by 15 points.)

Garrity also wants Pennsylvania voters to know that “Pennsylvania was doing DOGE before DOGE was cool,” aggressively fighting fraud and misuse of taxpayer funds.

Her office has a fraud investigation unit, as well as “a pre-audit function” to avoid making improper payments

“Just last year, we stopped $1.7 billion of improper payments,” said Garrity.

Garrity also talked up her office’s Pennsylvania Money Match program, which the legislature passed in a bipartisan vote. It allows the treasurer to automatically return unclaimed property of up to $500 for a single owner, whether or not the property owner has filed a claim.

The office sent letters in January notifying people they’d be getting checks.

“We sent almost $2 million out to about 8,000 folks,” said Garrity. In May, additional letters will be sent. “I’m hoping we get to $20 million by the end of the year,” she said. “This is brand new, and I’m super excited about it.”

One in 10 Pennsylvanians has unclaimed property, she said.

The state has $4.5 billion in unclaimed property. That includes “dormant bank accounts, rebates, old stocks and bonds,” she said. “So, after three years, by law, the financial institutions have to escheat it to the state.”

Sometimes, it takes a lot of detective work to find the rightful owners. Her staff searches databases and the internet. Garrity, a 30-year veteran of the Army Reserves who retired as a colonel, is particularly proud of the 472 military decorations, including 111 Purple Hearts and three Bronze Stars, her office has returned to veterans or their families.

Another example of returned property is gold records that belonged to Jimmy Bishop, who was involved with the Jackson Five and Earth, Wind and Fire, among other groups. They found his wife and son and reunited them with his gold records.  At the moment, they have some guitars signed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Rolling Stones, and Guns N’ Roses, she said.

The Treasury Department advertises and does outreach. In the last calendar year, it returned a “new all-time record of $272 million,” Garrity said.

Last year, an elderly woman in rural Pennsylvania received more than $1 million from insurance policies from her deceased husband’s policy, she said.

“We were just delighted to give that back,” said Garrity.

(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 announced today 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 carefully 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,” Treasurer 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 October 25 and 26, 2023. Treasury partners with Pook & Pook, Inc., of Downingtown for auctioneer and appraisal services.

“This was another tremendously successful collaboration with the Pennsylvania Treasury,” President of Pook & Pook Deidre Pook Magarelli said. “I believe this was our biggest Coins & Jewelry auction to date, and strong prices were achieved across the board in all categories. I’m continually impressed with the stellar effort the Pennsylvania Treasury puts forth into reuniting unclaimed property with its original owners, and, when that is not possible, making sure that monetary compensation for that unclaimed property is available to those individuals in perpetuity. It’s a huge undertaking, and Pook & Pook appreciates playing a part in this important process. We look forward to our next collaboration, a Coins & Jewelry auction scheduled for March 27, 2024.”

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 $298,029.60 after Pook & Pook receives its 12 percent commission of the full auction total of $338,670.00. The profits from the auction were more than $60,000 over the high estimate.

Items that are not sold at auction, 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 ten 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.

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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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From a press release

Tuesday, the U. S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the Pennsylvania Treasury Department in a landmark unclaimed property case, creating the potential return of nearly $19 million in escheated funds to Pennsylvania from Delaware.

The case, Delaware v. Pennsylvania et al, was originally filed by Pennsylvania in 2016. It was subsequently joined by 29 other states.

“This ruling means that Pennsylvania residents will have a real opportunity to reclaim millions of dollars in unclaimed property,” Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity said. “The Supreme Court rejected Delaware’s attempt to gain an unfair windfall and struck a strong blow in favor of consumers. I’m eager to get to the business of returning this money to the hardworking people it rightfully belongs to.”

The Court’s decision adopted much of the reasoning and many of the arguments advanced by Pennsylvania Treasury.

The next step is for the Special Master appointed by the Supreme Court to determine exactly how much money is owed to Pennsylvania and other states. It’s estimated that Delaware could owe as much as $400 million in escheated funds to other states – including the nearly $19 million to Pennsylvania – as unclaimed property from MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc., a provider of money transfer and bill payment services.

This is the first time in almost 30 years that the Supreme Court considered a question involving the laws governing unclaimed property.

Pennsylvania argued that uncashed “official checks” sold by MoneyGram in Pennsylvania are a form of money order. According to the Federal Disposition Act (FDA), uncashed money orders and similar instruments are to be escheated to the state in which they were originally purchased. Delaware argued that MoneyGram’s “official checks” do not fall into this FDA classification, and are therefore due to the state where the company is incorporated.

In May 2021, SCOTUS-appointed Special Master Judge Pierre N. Leval of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 100-page report which ruled in Pennsylvania’s favor, finding that Delaware improperly demanded and received uncashed MoneyGram checks purchased in other states. Today’s Supreme Court decision adopted the recommendations of that report.

In Special Master Leval’s 2021 report, he conclusively determined the disputed MoneyGram “official checks” should be returned to the state of original purchase in compliance with the FDA. He found Delaware’s argument to be logically “flawed” and both “insubstantial and unpersuasive.”

In October 2022, Pennsylvania Treasury and other states presented oral arguments before the Supreme Court.

Pennsylvania’s case was originally filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The case was subsequently moved to the Supreme Court as a dispute between states that falls within the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction. After Pennsylvania’s filing, 29 other states filed suit using the same legal arguments advanced by Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania is the only state directly represented by its unclaimed property administrator, Treasurer Garrity. Pennsylvania Treasury is represented by its Chief Counsel, Christopher B. Craig, along with Matthew H. Haverstick and Joshua J. Voss of Philadelphia-based Kleinbard LLC.

The other states were all represented by their respective Attorney General Offices.