Vintage Apple 1 computer set to fetch $300,000 at auction

A functioning example of one of the first computers to bear the Apple name is expected to sell for up to $300,000 (£230,000) at auction next month. 

Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak originally conceived the device as a bare circuit board for programming enthusiasts, which was unveiled at California’s Palo Alto Homebrew Computer Club in July 1976.

However, at the advice of Paul Terrell, owner of one of the world’s first computer shops, Jobs and Wozniak decided to sell the Apple 1 as a fully assembled kit in order to appeal to a wider audience. Terrell agreed to purchase 50 of the computers, at a cost price of $500 (£385) each, which he then sold for $666.66 (£514) at his Byte Shop, in Mountain View, California.

Within months, the tech firm duo had sold 175 examples of a total 200 Apple 1s produced.

Only 60 examples are believed to remain in existence today, reports CNet. Apple offered buyers a discount on the second-generation model if they traded in their Apple 1 computers, and most of the older models were then destroyed. 

The model going under the hammer at Boston-based seller RR Auctions on 25 September was restored to its original, operational state by Apple 1 expert Corey Cohen earlier this year. 

The successful bidder will get the Apple 1 main board, an Apple cassette interface (ACI) and a Sanyo 4205 video monitor, as well as an original operations manual and cassette interface.

Image credits: Marius Becker/AFP/Getty Images