A Michael Jordan rookie card was abandoned in Iowa. The auction starts at more than $4,000

Calling all basketball fans. Iowa State Treasurer Roby Smith has more safe deposit box auctions starting Tuesday, with a new, sporty addition this time.

After sending a Michael Jordan rookie card to be evaluated by Professional Sports Authenticator and receiving positive ratings, Smith announced that the card would be added to the next set of auctions.

Where can you bid on a near mint Michael Jordan rookie card?

Auctions are hosted online at IowaUnclaimedProperty.org and are open to anyone registered and approved on Lone Star Auctioneers with a valid U.S. mailing address.

The Michael Jordan rookie card has a minimum bid of $4,250 with bid increments of $50. The bidding will close in two weeks, on Sept. 20 at 9:10 a.m. As of 9 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 7, about 48 hours after the auction opened, one bid of $4,250 had been recorded.

The card could sell for as much as $6,000, according to an estimate from the treasurer's office

How did the Iowa Treasurer's Office get a Michael Jordan rookie card?

Each year, the Iowa Treasurer’s Office receives two to three hundred safe deposit boxes that have been abandoned.

"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 previously told the Register.

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.

Why does the Iowa Treasurer auction off sports cards, safety deposit boxes?

The office is currently holding nearly 3,000 boxes that have been abandoned. Unclaimed property and funds are listed on the state's greatiowatreasurehunt.gov website. When the office runs out of room to store abandoned 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.

Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez is a general assignment reporter for the Register. Reach her at vreynarodriguez@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @VictoriaReynaR.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Auction for Michael Jordan rookie card found in Iowa starts Tuesday