A Treasure Hunt for Series E Savings Bonds

At one point in the past, many people purchased Series E savings bonds for babies or for a rainy day and then forget the purchase was ever made. You can find out if you're one of those people in just a few seconds by visiting the Treasure Hunt on TreasuryDirect.gov. This is the United States government's site where you can buy and redeem securities directly from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in paperless electronic form. Recently, the U.S. Treasury has been attempting to track down matured Series E savings bonds, which had maturity dates of 40 years for bonds issued before 1965 and 30 years for bonds issued between 1965-1980. There are also some extended maturity periods for these bonds, but if you don't know you have them you probably also don't know if they've matured. The major limitation of the Treasure Hunt feature on TreasuryDirect.gov is that it can't automatically look up Series E savings bonds issued before 1973. Be sure to check the Treasure Hunt to see if you have a bond or two issued and now forgotten.