Last month, we saw two sealed units of the original iPhone model go up for auction: one per US$63 mil and another by US$54 mil. Launched in 2007, the device inaugurated the line of products that would become Apple’s main and most iconic, in addition to having created a new trend in the market for cellular devices (smartphones).
Now, we had another auction, organized by the auction house Wrightwhere a sealed unit from the original iPhone (model A1203), which has 8GB of storage, was auctioned by US$40.320 (about BRL 206 thousand). In addition to being sealed for nearly 16 years, this iPhone’s box still has a sticker that says “Lucky you” (“Lucky Yours”) upside down, which only makes the relic even more unique.
The iPhone was brought to Wright by Donald Gajadhar, from the relic house Fox-White Art & Antique Appraisals. According to him, a client of his owned what turned out to be not just an unopened cell phone, but a truly unique version. “A 24-carat gold Willy Wonka ticket,” he said.
Among the photos, we even have an X-ray scan of the box, which shows the accessories inside (including the charger, the headphones and the dock, nowadays just memories of another time…).
The auction ended a little while ago and, as we said, the iPhone was sold for around US$40,3 mil, within the auction house’s estimate (between $40,000 and $60,000). Back in 2007, the device was sold for “only” US$600.
As a used bookstore owner once told me, “the older the book, the more it is worth,” which applies to anything that has its value not in its usefulness but in the fact that it is a relic. That is, in a few years, the average price of these iPhones should rise even more — and certainly the owners of these historic pieces are just waiting for this appreciation!
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via 9to5Mac