'Series E' war bonds are at the center of the Treasury Department unclaimed bonds lawsuit., which claims there are $16 billion in unclaimed bonds. -- Associated Content

These unclaimed series E bonds date back as far as WWII, 1941 - 1980. While these are no longer available for purchase, they have been superseded by the series EE bonds.

Interestingly, the push to purchase series E bonds, also known as war bonds was one of a patriotic nature of sorts as many Americans bought bonds to raise financial support to the government. What has happened is that since they were purchased, many have not been cashed in. The bonds, which acted as mini loans from the bondholders to the government, were supposed to come due in 40 years. Americans purchased more than $180 billion worth of US bonds over the years, but more than $1.6 billion have yet to be paid after they came due. Why? The world wide web and electronic purchasing was yet to come and these bonds were issued in paper form, which have either been lost or those who bought them have unfortunately passed away.States such as New Jersey, North Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky, Montana and Oklahoma filed a federal lawsuit against the Treasury Department last fall, claiming that such funds should be handed over to the state. Said states supposedly have systems in place that would allow them to find the owners of these war bonds. In the meantime, said states could use the funds to offset some of the budget cuts and recession they currently experience. If these states win the suit, can you imagine what that would do to their economy? Because many are suffering due to the uptick in unemployment claims, mortgage crisis, etc, this could be quite a boost to their revenue!

But obviously the federal government is not trying to lose these monies either. Releasing those funds stateside would allow the states, instead of the feds, to use the funds. The treasury department doesn't agree with the lawsuit, as there is a website where users can enter their social security number to find out if they do in fact own a war bond. http://www.unclaimedassets.org/

The case comes to court in a few weeks, so we'll be watching anxiously to see how this pans out.

In the meantime, perhaps you don't have a war bond somewhere in a coffer. But you MAY in fact have some unclaimed funds owed to you. You might even get a letter from a company saying you have unclaimed money or property. And for a fee you'll be able to reclaim it. DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE. Before you pay for this type of service, remember there are PLENTY of FREE websites that will enable you to do this on your own.

There is almost $33 billion in unclaimed money from old payroll checks, utility refunds, trust distributions, stocks, banking or checking accounts, CDs and the contents of safe deposit boxes, according to estimates by the National Accociation of Unclaimed Property Administrators. Go to their site and see what's yours. You could be sitting on a gold mine and not even know it. I know I was able to claim a little over $100 bucks from an old utility refund in a state I moved from about seven years ago.. I had no idea it was out there!
Bookmark this one: http://www.unclaimed.org/

You just never know!


Sources include: Huliq News, Great Falls Tribune.com