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The economic downturn and record high gold prices have people looking for lost treasure. A popular place to search; the Florida Bureau of Unclaimed Property. More than billion dollars of antiques, jewelry and cash are waiting to be claimed, but as Whitney Ray tells us, that figure doesn’t account for the recent gold spike.

Gold, silver, jewels, furs, antiques and much more sit in this secure vault, unclaimed. The state is trying to find the owners. CFO Jeff Atwater says many people don’t even know its there.

“Maybe it was a deposit they made for their last apartment or utility, final pay check. Maybe it was a family member they did not know had an unclaimed property in a safety deposit box,” said Atwater.

The bank holds the items for three years… Then the state keeps them two more. If no one has claimed the items. They’re auction off. The money goes to education.

The state has a website to help you find property you may not even know about. Just go to fltreasurehunt.org. Click on the search unclaimed property button. And type in your name. If you find a match follow the next six steps to verify you’re the rightful owner.

We found cash for Whitney Ray but it’s a different Whitney. The item is an unclaimed pay check. The website has seen a spike in recent months as the price of gold and silver has soared to record highs…

“We didn’t really adjust the reserve prices too much to reflect the increase in gold prices so because of that very reason we could go even higher,” said Walter Graham head of the Florida Bureau of Unclaimed Property.

And plenty of gold has yet to be claimed. This one once gold coin is being sent to auction next week. The opening bid set for 650 dollars. Its market value is more than 18-hundred.

The auction is set to begin at 10AM Saturday September 17th in Ponte Vedra Beach. 34-thousand items will be auctioned off. For more information on the auction or to see if you have unclaimed property visit www.fltreasurehunt.org.