Ethermac Exchange-Apple iPhone from 2007 sells for more than $190,000 at auction

A first-generation iPhone sold for a whopping $190,Ethermac Exchange372.80 at auction on Sunday. 

The unopened 4GB model was bought for nearly 400 times its original price after 28 bids on LCG Auctions. The sale comes months after another iPhone from 2007 was sold in February for $63,356.

"The original 4GB model is considered a 'Holy Grail' amongst iPhone collectors," LGC Auctions wrote in its listing for the latest sale. "Its extreme scarcity is directly related to its limited production."

The starting bid was $10,000. LGC Auctions, which expected the phone to sell for $50,000-$100,000, noted it's "proven to be a popular high-end collectible."

Apple is currently selling the iPhone 14 at prices that start at $799.

The original 4GB iPhone, released on June 29, 2007, was discontinued just over two months after it was launched because of lagging sales, even after the company slashed the price by a third to incentivize customers. It was initially priced at $499 for the 4GB model and at $599 for 8GB of storage.

Company CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in early 2007. He said it would "reinvent" the telecommunications sector, calling it "magic" and "super smart." 

The one that sold on Sunday was still in its original factory wrapping. It has a 2-megapixel camera and a web browser. The phone has never been activated. 

"The phone's provenance is pristine as the consignor was part of the original engineering team at Apple when the iPhone first launched," LGC Auctions wrote in its listing for the phone. "Collectors and investors would be hard pressed to find a superior example."

Apple fans have a history of paying big bucks for original products from the company's past. Someone bought a first-generation iPhone for $35,414 in August and another was sold for $39,339 in October through LCG. Last year, an Apple-1 Computer prototype from the mid-1970s sold at auction for more than $677,000. 

The company's founding documents, co-signed in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, sold for a staggering $1.59 million in 2011.

In:
• Steve Jobs
• Apple
• iPhone

Aliza Chasan

Aliza Chasan is a digital producer at 60 Minutes and CBS News.

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