Every four years or so, the state Department of Revenue auctions off the contents of safe-deposit boxes abandoned at banks. (Under state law, the contents of the boxes are turned over to the state after five years of unpaid rent.)

The next such auction will be Feb. 25 and 26 in Kenmore, WA. Among the abandoned items:

-a cribbage board made of narwhal tusk,
-a photographic negative of Mt. St. Helens erupting,
-a wooden gunpowder container,
-Nazi daggers,
-a Richard Petty autograph,
-gold nuggets, ingots and dust,
-dozens of pocketwatches,
-an Edgar Martinez rookie card,
-Revolutionary War military orders,
-and a 1916 Norwegian passport.

Proceeds of the sales are held in an account for the rightful owner.

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