Missouri’s State Treasurer has cracked open some interesting and unusual items found in the state’s largest lost and found efforts.

State Treasurer Clint Zweifel opened safe deposit boxes containing artifacts found in Unclaimed Property. Items found include military medals, collectibles, coins, and family heirlooms such as photographs and jewelry. Some items even date back to the Civil War. Currently, Zweifel holds nearly $700 million in unclaimed property. “The value of that property is kept in perpetuity for that account owner, so what we hold in unclaimed property is really a promise to Missourians that we’re going to hold that in perpetuity,” he said.

Zweifel says the goal is to return the unclaimed items to its owners or heirs. If not, the state will auction the items off, but not all of them. “We never auction off the military medals, so that was a change we made when I took office because of our partnerships, because of the work that we’re doing with veterans organizations and museums; we’re able to return those medals back to those rightful owners or heirs,” he said.

Zweifel says since taking office, he’s returned about $125 million of unclaimed property back to Missourians. He says unclaimed property comes in all shapes and sizes; such as an old check that wasn’t cashed, a checking account or savings account, an insurance policy that wasn’t cashed. Zweifel says the average claim is about $300 and about 1 in 10 Missourians has unclaimed property.

Missourians can search for their unclaimed property 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at www.showmemoney.com.

AUDIO: Mary Farucci reports. (1:02)

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