26 May
2013
26 May
'13
11:59 p.m.
On Sun, 26 May 2013, Brent Hilpert wrote:
What I haven't seen addressed in this discussion
is just what was the
known market value(s) of an Apple I at the time of the 40K$ transaction?
News articles seem to present contradictory info, that the 40K$ purchase
from Hatfield was a few months ago, to it being a couple of years ago.
While a collaborative approach to the sale - splitting proceeds - might
have been more profitable to him, Hatfield sounds like he has his wits
about him, he could have checked, or known, 'what it was worth'. Without
more info it seems difficult to suggest he was 'taken advantage of'.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/25/vintage-apple-1-sells-for-record-6…
"That surpassed the $640,000 record for an Apple-1, set last November at a
sale at the same auction house in Cologne, Germany, Auction Team Breker.
The fall 2012 sale was a sharp rise from the previous record price for an
Apple-1 of $374,500, set in June 2012 at Sotheby?s in New York."
"Told the of sale price, Mr. Hatfield said, ?My God.? Then, he added,
?Best to him. He?s the one who fixed it up and figured the best way to
sell it for all that money. Evidently, he?s very good at this.?"
The middleman certainly knew it had a very, very high likelihood of
reselling at auction for at least $374,500, even if it didn't go as high
as the last one that had sold for $640,000. Mr. Hatfield was probably
thinking about what he had spent on it back when it was new and in working
condition ($666.66) when that middleman popped up offering to buy it for
$40,000, and was likely unaware of what those other two Apple I boards had
sold for last year.