The Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department is auctioning off a coin collection with an estimated value of $15,000, which was seized during a drug bust several years back.

Sheriff David Allison said the coins were seized during an arrest of a 72-year-old county resident for allegedly selling prescription medication.

Allison said the coins were seized when the suspect was arrested in 2008 or 2009, and were put away in a safe with the intention of selling or auctioning them off at some point to add funds to the department’s drug forfeiture fund since the investigation showed that the coins were purchased using funds generated from the sale of the prescription medication. Recently the department received confirmation that the coins could be sold at auction, so Allison said the department contacted Cuevas Auction House.

The coins are currently up for auction both at the auction house’s website and through live auctions. Allison said that while there is no way for bidders to determine which coins came from the bust, they vary from vintage coins to those made of or containing gold.

Some of the coins have already been purchased by bidders, but due to the volume of the currency, Allison said it will take several auctions to sell them all.

Allison said he would like to thank the community for its continued support in the fight against drug abuse through community tips about suspected drug activity. He would like to encourage the community to continue their efforts in alerting the department of that activity, and for anyone dealing with drug addiction to seek help where it is available.