An old Apple computer found in the home of a former Chaffey College student sold for $500,000 earlier this week after a tense bidding war.
The winning bid for the Apple-1 computer was received from a collector from Germany during an auction held by John Moran Auctioneers and Appraisers in Monrovia on Tuesday, Nov. 9, said Noelle Valentino, a manager for the auction house.
Bidding started at $225,000 and quickly ramped up by increments of $25,000 in a matter of seconds, reaching what’s called the hammer price of $400,000. A 25% service fee brought the price up to $500,000, Valentino explained.
There were six bidders trying to buy the rare piece of technology history, Valentino said. The auction house placed a value range on the computer of between $400,000 and $600,000.
“We thought there was a chance it could go for more,” Valentino said. “But it was squarely within the estimate.”
In some instances, these rare computers have sold for $1 million. In 2014, one sold for $905,000.
“It is one of the most collectable pieces of the 20th century,” said Corey Cohen, an Apple and technology historian based in New Jersey who helped restore the computer.
“It is the start, if you think about it, of the modern world,” Cohen said Wednesday, Nov. 10. “Our whole lives were touched by computers like Apple.”
Joey Catuara, a retired software engineer from Rancho Cucamonga, bought the computer in 1977 from his professor who was teaching a microprocessor course at Chaffey College, he said on Friday, Nov. 12. The professor, whose name he could not recall, was the original owner. The professor sold it to him for $650 and used the money to upgrade to the Apple II.
Catuara and the professor were the only two owners of the computer, according to the auction house. The computer was named the Chaffey College Apple-1 due to the connection with the college in Rancho Cucamonga.
Catuara, 67, confirmed that he kept the computer under a towel in his closet for 44 years until it was sold on Tuesday after his broker learned of interest from the auction house.
He would take it down every five years to play with it, he said. He remembers programming simple tasks into it, such as having the computer confirm his name. It also played a Star Trek game, he said.
“It is like finding a winning lottery ticket or a Michael Jordan rookie card. I just lucked into buying a toy when I was 23 years old and then having it turn into a collectible,” Catuara said.
He said he is shopping for a new car — possibly a convertible Mercedes-Benz. “I didn’t really need the money but that is a lot of money just sitting in the closet,” he said.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, founders of Apple computers, built their company’s first line of desktop computers by hand in 1976 out of Jobs’ parents’ garage in Mountain View, Calif. This computer was one of the first made by the duo.
Jobs sold his Volkswagen bus for $750 and Wozniak sold his HP 65 calculator for $500 to finance the parts and assembly of this first set of computers, which started the personal computer revolution. About 175 were sold and today, only 62 are verified to exist according to the Apple 1 Registry, which lists the computers, their owners and locations.
Many of the Apple-1s are found in museums in London, Scotland, Switzerland, South Korean, Albuquerque and Mountain View, Calif., according to the Apple 1 Registry.
“The supply of these are drying up,” said the auctioneer. “Most are finding their way to museums.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comments from the owner of the computer.