Original First-Gen iPhone Sells for Over $60,000 at Auction

In 2007, Karen Green acquired an iPhone, but she did something not many people do – she left it sealed.

On Sunday, an auction saw the sale of her first-generation iPhone for $63,356.40 (£51,900).

It was far beyond the anticipated value of $50,000 for the phone. This figure is much higher than the original price tag of $599 for the 8GB phone, exceeding it by a factor of 100.

Mark Montero from LCG Auctions stated to BBC News that it is remarkable to come across an original, first-release model from 2007 that is still in its original packaging and untouched.

The auction, organized by LCG Auctions, started at $2,500 on the 2nd of February and ended on Sunday after receiving 27 bids.

When Ms. Green got a new job in 2007, her friends gave her a phone as a gift, which she recalled in a 2019 interview. Even though she had just bought a different phone, she chose to keep the gift unopened.

She pondered, “This is an iPhone, so it will never become obsolete”.

Happily, it turns out she had been mistaken. According to Mr. Montero, her iPhone satisfied the critical criteria that serious collectors value: “relevance, rarity, and replaceability.”

He states that the only iPhones that have significant value are those that have never been used, is original models, and are in pristine condition. Ms. Green’s story is simply a bonus.

Individuals devoted to Apple have been known to pay significant amounts of money for authentic items. In 2020, a prototype of an Apple computer from the 1970s sold for over $677,000.

Examples of first-generation iPhones that are in pristine condition have sold for high prices in the past; one was sold for $35,414 in August and another for $39,339 in October.

According to Business Insider, Ms. Green expressed that she wished she had kept her first-generation Apple iPhone longer to make a greater profit. Unfortunately, she had to generate funds for her New Jersey venture and sell the phone.

On the 26th of August, 2016, the Apple 1 computer was revealed. A photograph of it can be seen below:

On the 25th of September 2018, another notable Apple sale occurred – the first Apple computer was sold for an impressive sum of $815,000.