Michael Jordan basketball card auctioned by Iowa State Treasurer

Iowa's State Treasurer Roby Smith has more safe deposit box auctions planned, and has a special addition for the September auction.

After sending a Michael Jordan rookie card to be evaluated by Professional Sports Authenticator and receiving positive ratings, Smith announced that the card will be added to the lot for the upcoming auction.

"When auctioning off some safe deposit boxes a few months ago that we had held onto for 10 to 15 years without finding the rightful owner, we came across a Michael Jordan rookie card," said Russ Trimble, chief of staff at the State Treasurer's Office.

The rookie card was originally set for auction as part of a lot containing other sports cards and foreign currency in June. Trimble said when Axios contacted the office asking about the card, they knew they had a very sought after item.

"We decided to pull the card from the auction at that time and send it off to PSA to be graded to verify the authenticity," Trimble said

The Michael Jordan rookie card came back with a Professional Sports Authenticator score of 7, which is "near mint," according to PSA. This score indicates there may be slight surface wear upon close inspection, such as slightly frayed corners. Minor printing blemishes are acceptable, but most of the original gloss is retained.

Lone Star Auctioneers specializes in selling unclaimed safe deposit box contents from state unclaimed property programs and will manage the auction. Lonestar will appraise each item in the box and will set the minimum bid. Trimble said the card is expected to go for between $4,000 and $6,000.

Bidding for the card and other lots will open on Sept. 5 and close Sept. 20.

The auction will be held online at IowaUnclaimedProperty.org and is open to anyone registered and approved on Lone Star Auctioneers with a valid U.S. mailing address.

Each year, the Treasurer’s Office receives two to three hundred safe deposit boxes that have been abandoned. The office is currently holding nearly 3,000 boxes. When the office runs out of room to store the boxes, it is forced to auction them.

Some of the boxes auctioned off this year have been held at the office for 10 to 15 years.

Before any auction, Smith's office searches for the owner via mail, newspaper publishing, social media and more. Proceeds from the auction stay in the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt for the rightful owners to claim. If an owner comes forward before the auction, the items are returned rather than sold.