Woman donates rare Apple I computer worth $200,000 to recycling center, effort begins to locate her to provide resale payment

Ok, this is why you check before you hurl something in the trash.

A Bay Area recycling center in Milpitas, California 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 US$200,000 this month.

The Apple I 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.

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

The donor was apparently cleaning her garage and turned down an offer for a tax receipt of any kind upon donating the computer.

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 US$905,000 at auction last fall.

If you have any information that could help in the search for the donor, please contact Sharon Noguchi at 408-271-3775.

Via AppleInsider and San Jose Mercury News