After selling for $738,000, Michael Jordan's newest rookie card find goes for a mere $5000

A rare near-mint Michael Jordan rookie card has been sold at an auction. The exciting find was being kept in a safety deposit box that had been abandoned, with the Iowa Treasurer's office unable to reach out or locate the owner. Therefore, the rookie card was put up for auction.

Despite the excitement surrounding the rare find, the card sold for only $5000. The proceeds from the sale will now be kept at the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt until the rightful owner, or the rightful heir, claims the proceeds from the sale.

"It’s certainly not every day we come across an item in our care that creates this much excitement,” Treasurer Roby Smith said. “While the card has sold, the proceeds from the sale will stay in Great Iowa Treasure Hunt for the rightful owner or heir to claim, as with any auctioned item."

Basketball cards have undergone a resurgence in popularity in recent years and have become a valuable commodity at auctions. Finding a near-mint Chicago Bulls-era Jordan card that has been out of circulation and kept away from the elements is a major find for collectors around the world.

However, there has been some shock at the timid bidding process for the professionally authenticated Jordan rookie card, leading to some shock at its modest sale price.

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Other Michael Jordan rookie cards have sold for over $500,00

Michael Jordan cards have a history of being high-value. In recent years, Jordan memorabilia has begun to pick up steam and fetch incredible prices at auctions. Hip-hop superstar Drake recently saw the selling power of Jordan cards as he pulled two near-mint rookie cards on an Instagram live.

It was then that Drake found out that two similar cards had sold at auction for $738,000 just a month prior. They were both professionally graded as a PSA 10, the rarest grading among sports cards.

"Last March, rapper Drake pulled one of the 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie cards during an Instagram Live with Goldin Auctions founder Ken Goldin," Demetrius Simms of 'RobReport' wrote. "A month prior, the auction house had sold two copies of the card for a record-breaking $738,000 each. Both of these cards were virtually perfect and given a grade of Gem Mint PSA 10, according to Hypebeast."

There was also an 8.5-graded signed Jordan card that recently sold for $390,000 at auction, further illustrating the pulling power Jordan sports cards can produce.

With so much hype around Jordan sports cards, the rare find in Iowa certainly fell short in keeping with the current market trends. However, for a card that has been in storage for countless years, it still quickly found a buyer, who will now be hoping the value continues to increase.