Old or Gold?

Old or Gold? / Police and government auction

Police and government auction

Seized, forfeited, lost or surplus property ends up at public auctions. These are the official places to look, and the scam to avoid, then a few things to guess.

Good to know

  • The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) sells surplus federal government property to the public, and its online sales site is called GSA Auctions.1,2 #
  • U.S. Treasury auctions sell property forfeited to the government by people who broke federal law, including in tax cases.1,3 #
  • The U.S. Marshals Service holds online and live auctions, open to the public, of property seized by federal agencies.1,4 #
  • A government agency can run its own sale or hire an outside auction company to sell the property for it.1,4,5 #
  • Lost property turned in to the police is held for a period set by state law (Florida and California are two examples); if nobody claims it, it can be sold at a public auction.6,7 #
  • Police auctions sell lost-and-found items and also seized property that nobody claims, such as unclaimed evidence from investigations.3,8 #
  • In Canada, GCSurplus sells surplus federal government assets such as furniture, cars, trucks and boats to the public through online auctions on its website.9,10 #
  • GCSurplus also sells goods that were seized or forfeited, on behalf of government departments and law enforcement agencies.9,10 #
  • Scammers pretend to be from government agencies to get people's money and personal information.11,12 #

Your sale-day kit

Tick them off as you go; each line links to the fact behind it.

Old or Gold? Guess first

How we checked this page

Checked on October 17, 2026. We kept a fact only when two independent sources agree, and each one is numbered to its sources below; every fact has its own link (#). We never write a price: the listings come straight from eBay and show what sellers ask. This page was written with an AI assistant and checked against the sources below.

Sources

  1. Government auctions and sales, USA.gov
  2. General Services Administration, Wikipedia
  3. Police auction, Wikipedia
  4. Asset Forfeiture, U.S. Marshals Service
  5. Government auction, Wikipedia
  6. Florida Statutes 705.103, Procedure for abandoned or lost property, Florida Legislature
  7. California Civil Code 2080.4, FindLaw
  8. Florida Statutes 705.105, Procedure regarding unclaimed evidence, Florida Legislature
  9. GCSurplus home, Government of Canada
  10. GCSurplus, Wikipedia
  11. How to avoid a government impersonation scam, Federal Trade Commission
  12. Scams and fraud, USA.gov

Other places: Estate sale Flea market Garage sale Thrift store Storage unit auction

Rooms: Kids' room Jewelry box Coin jar and stamp album Attic Living room shelves Bookcase and media Kitchen and basement

How we decide

The verdict is our own, written from public sources (coin specifications, maker histories, collector guides). It is not computed from eBay listings. OLD: a typical one found at home is worth little; rare dates, errors or editions are the exception. IT DEPENDS: maker, date, model and condition make a real difference. GOLD: even ordinary ones are worth real money, usually for their precious metal. The eBay listings we show are a few current asking prices, not sold prices and not an appraisal. For anything valuable, ask a certified appraiser.