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Woman dumps rare Apple I worth $200,000 at recycling center

A working Apple I that sold for nearly $1 million at auction last year. | Source: Bonhams

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A Bay Area recycling center is attempting to track down an unidentified woman who dropped off a 1976-model Apple I in April, after the computer sold to a private collector for $200,000 this month.

The computer was one of the first batch of 200 hand-assembled by Apple co-founders Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne in the company's first year of operation. The woman is being sought because it is the center's policy to split sale proceeds with donors, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

"We are looking for her to give her $100,000," Clean Bay Area vice president Victor Gichun told the paper.

"She said, 'I want to get rid of this stuff and clean up my garage,'" Gichun added. "I said, 'Do you need a tax receipt?' and she said, 'No, I don't need anything.'"

The Apple I was Apple's first product, and famously cost $666.66 when it was introduced in 1976. It has become one of the most sought-after Silicon Valley artifacts in recent hears, with a working model selling for $905,000 at auction last fall.



23 Comments

maestro64 19 Years · 5029 comments

Yeah they are going to get ever old lady plus those acking old or as a lady trying to get their hands on that $100K.

lkrupp 19 Years · 10521 comments

I wonder what the old Altair 8800s are going for? Or the original IBM PCs or any of the early personal computers? Some claim Apple has been irrelevant and unimportant from the beginning and didn’t invent anything worthwhile. 

greginprague 13 Years · 492 comments

There's nothing like getting Friday's news on Monday morning...

ascii 19 Years · 5930 comments

I don't think they should have sold it and then tried to find her to give her half the money. It was clearly a mistake giving it away, so they should have just put it aside and tried to contact her and give it back whole.

mobius 18 Years · 378 comments

She's my mum. Give it to me and I'll pass it on for you. :)