There are more than 50 million US Savings Bonds in curculation. All of these bonds mature and stop earning interest forty years or less from the original date of issue.  After maturity, some bonds can be worth more than four times their original face value. Today, the US Treasury is holding $1.3 billion dollars in Savings Bonds issued prior to 1939 which have never been cashed in. There is another 10 billion dollars in unclaimed bonds that have been accumulating since that date.  Why? Only 2% of bond holders are notified when their savings bonds have reached maturity. And of that 2%, few notices actually reach the intended bond holder because of address changes, name changes or death.  Every year, more than 15,000 savings bonds and 25,000 bond interest payments are returned to the Treasury Department as undeliverable.

The Bureau of Public Debt is the holder of all unclaimed US savings bonds. Since it is a Federal agency, state databases will not contain any information for potential claimants. However, Fortune Finders has access to this Federal database and can facilitate the recovery of your funds.