State sells Michael Jordan rookie card worth $5,400

A rare card from a professional basketball star’s rookie season has sold for $5,400, state Treasurer Roby Smith said.

This spring, a collection of unclaimed property from Smith’s office was put up for auction online, including a 1986 Michael Jordan card. However, when Smith realized the card’s potential value, he ordered an appraisal. The card turned out to be authentic, nearly new, and worth at least $4,000.

“The basketball card industry, especially in the last few years, has really taken off,” Smith said. “Trading cards became very valuable.”

Smith had seen a photo of the card, which had been left in an unclaimed lock box and turned over to the state several years ago. The number of people who can apply for this card is very limited. “The more a person holds a card, the more likely they are to damage it,” Smith said. “I don’t want that to happen.”

If the owner cannot be found, the bank will turn over the unclaimed lock box to the state Treasury Department. The $5,400 proceeds from the sale of this Michael Jordan card will go into a special state-managed account, just in case the owner or heirs ask for the money in the future. The state maintains the Greater Iowa Treasure Hunt website, where people can search for any unclaimed property.

“We want to get the message out to people: Always check the unclaimed property website to make sure there are no baseball or basketball cards — or valuables of any kind — there from family or friends,” Smith said. “If they do, make sure they fill out the application. It’s really quick. It’s really easy and we can use it to reunite them.”

Each year, the state treasurer’s office receives up to 300 abandoned safes and runs out of space, so some safes that have been owned by the state for many years are selected for auction. There are still about 3,000 unclaimed safe deposit boxes in the state.