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You could be entitled to some money or valuables that you never knew existed. Matt Galka tells us about the state’s unclaimed property, and the items they’re getting ready to auction off.

The vault in Tallahassee is a little different than Al Capone’s. Inside dozens of boxes are millions of dollars worth of valuables – and they all belong to Floridians.

“Every item here came from a safe deposit box, somewhere in a bank in the state of Florida,” said Bureau of Unclaimed Property Chief Watler Graham.

Every year, unclaimed property is turned over to the office of Florida’s Chief Financial Officer.  The state waits at least 5 years before they auction it off.

“Florida traditionally is a state where people from other parts of the country come to retire. Maybe their children and other relatives are still in other parts of the country, and maybe they didn’t know about this particular account or this particular safe deposit box,” said Graham.

The annual auction held next week in Orlando will feature just about everything. From a nearly hundred year old gold flute to a gold pocket watch from 1856. There will even be baseball cards featuring Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays.

If the owners eventually come forward, they’re entitled to the auction money, too.

The CFO’s office estimates they have more than a billion dollars of unclaimed property or cash. They gave back almost $240 million of that last year alone.

Auction and unclaimed funds go into a trust that supports public schools.  If you want to know if you have any money or valuables floating around out there, go to www.fltreasurehunt.org and search your name.