One notable auction in the United States saw an unopened first-generation iPhone fetch a remarkable sum of 63,356 dollars, roughly 4.8 million rubles at the time. This figure was reported by GSM Arena in its coverage of early iPhone milestones.
The device on offer belonged to the 2007 model release, which came with 8 gigabytes of internal storage. Back when Apple launched it, the price tag stood at 599 dollars, equivalent to about 15 thousand rubles at the 2007 exchange rate.
The owner of this pristine unit was a person identified as Karen Green. The device had been received as a gift in 2007. It remained unused for years, because Karen was a Verizon subscriber and had no practical way to activate it on her network, opting instead to flash the phone to work on AT&T’s network for potential future use.
For more than a decade, the device sat idle. In 2019, Karen briefly considered selling the iPhone but was quoted a value around 5,000 dollars. She then chose to hold onto the device, waiting for a more favorable market window, and eventually put it up for auction in early February 2023.
As reported by Socialbites.ca, the iPhone initially carried an estimated value near 50,000 dollars. The media noted that Karen Green intended to reinvest the proceeds from the sale into the growth of her own business. This auction underscores how vintage tech can become a prized collectible, especially when preservation is near perfect and the original packaging remains unopened. It also highlights how exchange rates, market demand, and the unique history of a device can influence auction outcomes over time, turning a simple gift into a significant historical artifact for collectors and technology enthusiasts alike. (Source attribution: GSM Arena; Socialbites.ca)