4GB iPhone from 2007 still in sealed box is sold for world record price

At the beginning of this month, we told you about four unopened original iPhone units, still nestled in their original boxes and sealed, were being auctioned off by LCG Auctions. The original estimates called for the quartet to bring in anywhere from $115,000 to $210,000. The four phones included a rare 4GB model that was sold for $499 back in 2007.

Why is this the rarest of iPhone models? Because in early September 2007, Apple dropped the 4GB model and reduced the 8GB unit to $399 from $599. In February 2008, the 16GB variant was launched at a price of $499. Because the 4GB iPhone was around from June 29th until September 4th, 2007, it is the rarest iPhone of them all. Originally, the auction site estimated that the 4GB model might go for as much as $100,000.

Now that 9to5Google reports that the auction has concluded, we can tell you that this sealed, unopened 4GB 2007 iPhone set a new world record as it attracted a winning bid of over $158,000. Considering that a similar unsealed model sold for only $18,000 in April, we'd say that this was quite a haul. 

Bidding started at $10,000 and as recently as yesterday, the high bid was $42,000. But things really picked up on Sunday, the last day of the auction, as the bidding ran up from $67,000 to hit the new record of $158,644. It topped the previous record of $63,000, set in an auction this past February, by 250%. This iPhone outperformed many blue-chip stocks over the last 16 years with a 318x return from the original $499 purchase.

This particular unit was gifted by Apple to its owner, Phil Martino, as a way of saying thank you for Martino's work in directing Steve Jobs during some of his new product announcements.

Three other unopened and sealed original iPhone models were on the block. An 8GB model from 2007, not as rare as the 4GB unit, was purchased for $44,471. That was right below the estimated range of $45,000 to $60,000 that LCG estimated before the auction started. Another 2007 model, an 8GB European version locked to carrier O2, had a winning bid of $5,896 falling below the estimated $10,000-$20,000 estimate from LCG. And a 2008 8GB iPhone, released before the iPhone 3G was announced, sold for $11,491.00. That was well below the estimated range of $20,000-$30,000.