Do you have lost treasure waiting? NC treasurer's office has $900 million in unclaimed money, lockbox items

"Every abandoned lockbox in North Carolina eventually has to be turned over in the treasurer's office," says state treasurer Dale Folwell. "And you can just imagine what people used to put in lock boxes."

Some of the lost items have been in storage for decades – and are particularly fascinating and unusual.

You might expect a safety deposit box to contain cash, jewelry or old watches – but what about teeth? Or a toilet seat made out of coins?

"We have some baby teeth and some silver teeth, gold teeth and false teeth," said Folwell.

There are also collectibles and sentimental items, like marathon medals, war medals and old baseball cards.

Folwell’s office does all it can to find the owners of these items, no matter what they are.

"To be more reverent, we were able to return some war medals to a family who’d been looking for them for 14 years," said Folwell. "And last year, an actual pocket watch that had a president's name Woodrow Wilson inscribed inside it."

However, sometimes the owners can’t be found. For the first time this year, the division held a small online auction that ended last week.

"Some of these things have been around for decades," he said. "And you know, eventually we have to find the room."

Although there are many unique heirlooms and items, most of what the unclaimed property division returns is money – tens of millions of dollars last year alone.

"About $74 million dollars to over 125,000 individuals, businesses, churches and nonprofits," he said.

This year, he says, they have the potential to double that amount of money returned.

Folwell says it's updated daily, so if you've checked before, you might want to check again.