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Woman who recycled rare Apple computer has $100,000 waiting for her

By
Justin Worland
Justin Worland
and
Alex Fitzpatrick
Alex Fitzpatrick
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By
Justin Worland
Justin Worland
and
Alex Fitzpatrick
Alex Fitzpatrick
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May 31, 2015, 8:12 PM ET
Vintage Apple Computer
FILE - An Apple 1 computer for sale at auction is seen in a Monday, June 24, 2013 file photo, at the Computer History Museum in Menlo Park, Calif. The computer sold on Monday, Jully 8, 2013 for $387,750 at a Christie's online-only auction. The auction house did not disclose the name of the buyer. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)Photograph by Ben Margot — AP

A Silicon Valley recycling firm is offering $100,000 to a woman who discarded a rare Apple 1 computer after it sold for $200,000 at a private auction.

The computer was hidden in several boxes donated by a woman who was cleaning out her garage after her husband died, CleanBayArea Vice President Victor Gichun told NBC Bay Area. She neither requested a tax receipt, nor left her contact information, and the boxes went unchecked for weeks.

“We really couldn’t believe our eyes. We thought it was fake,” Gichun said of the find.

CleanBayArea is looking to find the woman in order to evenly split the proceeds from the sale with her. Apple 1 was the original computer built by co-founder Steve Wozniak in 1976; only around 200 were made.

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