1 of Apple's first computers, a functioning 1976 model, auctioned off for $668,000

The Associated Press
May 25, 2013 at 4:13PM
The Apple-1, the computer that Steve Jobs and Steve Wonzniak built in 1976, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., May 23, 2013. Apple-1 computers, built in Steve Jobs's family garage, have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent auctions, a run-up reflecting the company's mystique.
The Apple-1, the computer that Steve Jobs and Steve Wonzniak built in 1976, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., May 23, 2013. Apple-1 computers, built in Steve Jobs's family garage, have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent auctions, a run-up reflecting the company's mystique. (Nyt - Nyt/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

BERLIN - An auctioneer says one of Apple's first computers — a functioning 1976 model — has been sold for a record 516,000 euros ($668,000).

German auction house Breker said Saturday an Asian client, who asked not to be named, bought the so-called Apple 1, which the tech company's founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built in a family garage.

Breker claims it is one of only six known remaining functioning models in the world. Breker already sold one last year for 492,000 euros.

It says the computer bears Wozniak's signature. An old business transaction letter from the late Jobs also was included.

The Apple 1, which was sold for $666 in 1976, consisted of only the circuit board. A case, a keyboard and a screen had to be bought separately.

Dag Spicer, a senior curator at the Computer History Museum, next to an Apple-1 on display at the museum in Mountain View, Calif., May 23, 2013. Apple-1 computers, built in Steve Jobs's family garage, have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent auctions, a run-up reflecting the company's mystique.
Dag Spicer, a senior curator at the Computer History Museum, next to an Apple-1 on display at the museum in Mountain View, Calif., May 23, 2013. Apple-1 computers, built in Steve Jobs's family garage, have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent auctions, a run-up reflecting the company's mystique. (Nyt - Nyt/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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