The original iPhone, which has become a popular collector’s item today, has reached a new height in terms of monetary value. A rare, unopened, original iPhone at auction last month sold for an incredible $190,372.80, LCG Auctions reported.
Another reason why this device was really rare was that it was one of the limited edition 4GB variants of the 1st generation iPhone. The auction result has nearly tripled the previous highest iPhone auction price of $63,356 reported earlier this year. In March of this year, an original iPhone with the “Lucky You” tag was sold at another auction for $40,320.
According to the LCG Auctions website, this 4GB model has “never been activated” and is in “extraordinary condition.”
Bids for the original 4GB iPhone began on June 30 at 17:00 and ended on July 16 at 21:05. While the starting price for the device was $10,000, the auction house estimated it would sell for between $50,000 and $100,000.
On the LCG Auctions website, “The original of the phone remains intact, as the sender was part of the original engineering team at Apple when the iPhone was first released. It will be very difficult for collectors and investors to find a better example. The relevance and rarity complete a lucrative formula for this remarkable collector’s item.”
Apple released the original iPhone in 2007 in 4GB ($499) and 8GB ($599) variants, but production of the 4GB variant was soon discontinued due to low sales. Later, the company started offering a 16GB variant with a price tag of $499, while lowering the price of the 8GB variant to $399.
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