The Great Colorado Payback reunites owner with lost silver coins from his father

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado State Treasurer Dave Young reunited a man with a safe deposit box full of mint-condition silver coins that he was separated from during a bank merger.

“Most unclaimed property is cold, hard cash,” Colorado State Treasurer Dave Young shared. “We also received safe deposit boxes that have gone dormant, and our dedicated team works diligently to reunite owners or heirs with the contents, as most tend to have sentimental value.”

“I thought I’d lost these forever,” Skip Bailey stated. “When I got the phone call that they had been found, I couldn’t believe it. I’m so grateful to The Great Colorado Payback for reuniting me with these.”

Last fiscal year, The Great Colorado Payback said they returned almost $50 million to nearly 55,000 people through our Unclaimed Property Division. To simplify the claims process, a pilot program which proactively returns funds was started, returning $4.1 million to 13,700 people without requiring additional paperwork for identification purposes. The average claim last year was $1,832. 

“Mr. Bailey’s box was reported to us in November of 2022. We immediately processed and inventoried the contents. The bank had included personal identifying information that allowed us to proactively reach out to Mr. Bailey,” explained Bianca Gardelli, Director of Unclaimed Property.  

Money or property turned over to the State Treasury for safekeeping is held for the owner or heir of the account and there are no time limits for filing a claim, according to the State Treasury.