Apple smartphones have a stronger market value than most other phones, but even the older models of the brand can bring big bucks.

Take this first-generation Apple iPhone from 2007 for example, which sold for $63,356 (approximately Rs 52,42,000) at a recent auction over the weekend.

As per reports, the first-generation iPhone, still factory sealed, was sold for approximately Rs 52 lakh at LCG Auctions, (a premier auction house in the US), becoming the highest sale ever recorded for an original 2007 iPhone. On Sunday evening, the iPhone was sold for $52,797 at the auction with a 20 per cent buyer’s premium fee bringing the total sale to over $60,000, according to iMore.

The Apple iPhone belonged to Karen Green, a cosmetic tattoo artist in the US, who received the 8GB smartphone as a congratulations gift for starting a new job in 2007.

This was the first iPhone that featured a 3.5-inch display and a 2-megapixel camera and retailed for $599 (at the time), a far cry from the best iPhone of today with its 6.7-inch display and a 48-megapixel camera, the report said.

Originally released as an AT&T exclusive (an American multinational telecommunications holding company), the iPhone did not work with any other carriers at launch.

Green chose to keep the first-generation iPhone sealed in order to avoid losing her Verizon (an American multinational telecommunications company) phone lines.Fast forward 16 years and her decision to stay with Verizon has paid off handsomely, the report mentioned.

The cost of original iPhones has risen dramatically in recent years, with prices reaching as high as $39,000 last year for a sealed first-generation iPhone, it added.

Meanwhile, Apple’s upcoming smartphone iPhone 15 Ultra is likely to launch at a starting price of $1,299, a significant increase from the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s starting price of $1,099.