First Apple Computer Sold in ’76 Goes For Big Bucks at Auction

Technology has come so far sine the ‘70’s, why would you want to buy a computer from back then? Well, what if it was the first Apple computer that was ever sold?

Okay, so you may not be using it, but what a piece of history, right? It’s called the “Ricketts” computer, because Charles Ricketts bought it out of Steve Jobs’s parents’ garage for $600. As the New York Times reports, there was hope the computer would sell for $400-600,000, but it actually fetched $365,000. (Last year, another early computer went for $671,400 at an auction in Germany.)

As the Times continues, a techie named Corey Cohen was brought in to assess the computer’s circuitry before the auction, and he has been brought in to repair ancient computers so they can work again. He told the paper that there is a “vintage computer scene” that “very much mimics the classic car community.”

As Cohen continues, “Like car collecting, you’re starting to see some of these computers [to] be escalated to works of art.” There were only 175 of these early Apples made, and for collectors, they clearly have to be working. Early Apples are also much more valuable than say a Commodore, because those were mass produced.