RALEIGH – The North Carolina departments of Revenue and Administration hosted the State's first public auction of jewelry seized during drug busts.

Hundreds came to the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh Thursday to bid on the gold and diamonds.

Director of Unauthorized Substances Tax Division Cale Johnson said he believed a good number of attendants were jewelry dealer interested in buying for the purpose of resale.

Jimmie Lee Sessoms said he’s in the business of reselling gold, and he came to find good deals. He said he spent $17,000, which he thought was a good deal for what he got, and that he plans to return.

"I got a friend that owns a jewelry store. We're going to take some scrap, melt it down, and he'll resell it – get him some money,” Sessoms said. “I hope they do it … every year.”

Sessoms added that the slow economy is tough for the jewelry business.

"People that were spending a $1,000 are now spending $60 or $70 in jewelry stores,” he said. “People aren't buying like they used to.”

A popular gold and diamond gorilla, appraised at $21,000 and sold for $3750, was just one of nearly 200 items up for auction appraised from $1,000 to $38,000 dollars. All were seized during drug busts around the state.

The State Revenue Department said 75 percent of the money made from the sale of the jewelry is given back to the law enforcement agencies who made the drug arrests. The remaining 25 percent goes to the State General Fund.

The Department of Revenue made a total of $108,000 at the auction, but revenue officials have not decided when they will hold another auction.