The James G Murphy auction house, in downtown Kenmore, sells off tons of interesting items each year – some part of normal auction dealings and some from the Department of Revenue’s (DOR) safe deposit box holdings.

On Nov. 19 and 20, one such DOR auction took place in Kenmore. The most notable piece by far being the auctioning of a supposed Pablo Picasso sketchbook from 1912. Though the book is unauthenticated, it garnered a lot of attention.

“We didn’t authenticate it because of the expense that it would have cost; there’s not a lot of Northwest people who could do the authentication,” said Barbie Proffitt of the Department of Revenue.

The sketchbook sold for $112,500.

“It’s up to each individual buyer to inspect it and create their own conclusion,” said Colin Murphy of the Murphy auction house.

Even when items are auctioned off, the Department of Revenue will continue to attempt to contact the heirs of items – auctioned or not – to reconnect them to their property.

“When we do sell the item, the proceeds do go back…to the owner of the box, so it’s not something the state benefits from,” Proffitt said.

While the Picasso is arguably the most high profile, it is only one of thousands of lot items at last week’s auction.

“Every [item] is unique in its own way. There’s a wide selection of things, with different values,” said John Brown of the James G. Murphy auction house. “If I had to pick out one, I’d have to pick out 50 of interest to me.”

Other items included coins of every shape and size, commemorative coins from the 1964 Alaskan Earthquake (registering a 9.2 on the richter scale), jewelry from every era imaginable and even sports memorabilia.

“I’ve only sold one card in my entire life, I’m just interested in the cards,” said Kelly Jackson, an auction preview attendee. “Its artwork and history.”

Currently, the state is holding an approximate $1 billion in unclaimed proceeds from safe deposit box auctions.

According to Washington laws, the DOR is required to sell the contents of boxes if the owners haven’t been tracked down within five years of the DOR taking receipt of the items.

To ensure the DOR isn’t holding your proceeds or items, head to http://ucp.dor.wa.gov/default.aspx.