LITTLE ROCK—The value of one of the treasures Arkansas officials are trying to reunite with their owners may be the hardest to pin down—at least in dollars.

“To Father ... I want to go downtown. I love you Father. From Virginia,” read a child’s handwritten note displayed to reporters at the state Capitol.

The undated note is among thousands of items state Auditor Jim Wood said he’s trying to match with owners as he kicked off the state’s annual Great Treasure Hunt, the state’s campaign to track down the owners of unclaimed property. Wood said that $23 million in unclaimed property was received by the state over the past year.

Wood said more than 54,000 Arkansans have been added to the state’s list of people with money or property they haven’t claimed.

A Purple Heart medal, jewelry, silver bars and ancient coins were some of the items that Wood displayed at the state Capitol as he kicked off the treasure hunt.

Woods’ favorite item?

“I like the $1,000 bill,” he said. “I could use some of those today.”

Some of the items seem likely to be a little less treasured. They include a 1957 ticket from Little Rock police to a man for a prohibited left turn. Another item on display included a handwritten note from legendary football coach Lou Holtz on Notre Dame letterhead.

Wood’s office is responsible for collecting outstanding uncashed checks, stocks, bonds, abandoned bank accounts and safe-deposit box items from banks and corporations across the country. All are eligible to claim lost property by filing a written form or submitting a request through the Internet.

Among the more grim discoveries that Wood says the state has found in conducting the treasure hunt over the years were the cremated remains of two people.

“They had put them in safety-deposit boxes and the owner had died and the next-step-down heirs had all deceased and we could not track beyond that,” said Rob Scott, administrator of unclaimed property for the auditor’s office. Wood said no one had claimed the remains, which have been in state custody for several years.

Wood said he plans to have AETN televise the names of 5,000 owners with $375 or more in unclaimed goods on AETN and also plans to publish 500,000 tabloid newspapers with a list of new unclaimed owner names. The tabloid will be distributed in major state newspapers on Thursday.