The holder of a winning Lotto ticket for half a million dollars must claim the prize by Sunday or miss out.
The first division ticket worth $509,937 was sold at Richmond Road Superette in the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby on April 18, 2009.
"It was school holidays, a week after Easter and the weekend before Anzac day, so they may have been someone visiting Auckland, or a local, either way, everyone should check their couches, cupboards, cars, and coats," NZ Lotteries' chief executive Todd McLeay said.
Ticket holders have 12 months from the date of the draw to claim their ticket.
If the ticket holder does not come forward, it will be the largest unclaimed Lotto prize since a $500,000 ticket sold in Kaiapoi, north of Christchurch, in 2007.
Meanwhile, an Auckland woman found out she had won $500,000 when she checked her ticket over Easter while out buying toilet paper at the local supermarket.
The Mt Eden woman, who did not wish to be identified, told NZ Lotteries her flat had run out of toilet paper on Easter Monday as all the shops were closed on Easter Sunday, so she made a rush trip down to the local supermarket.
The winner said she could not return home with just the toilet paper, so she grabbed a bottle of bubbles too.
The winning ticket was sold at Foodtown Mt Eden in Auckland.
