A vintage Apple computer that was one of only 50 made in Steve Jobs' garage in 1976 has sold for $905,000 dollars (€717,000) at auction in New York City.

Bonhams auction house said the winning bid came from The Henry Ford museum. The final price of the Steve Wozniak-designed Apple 1 computer was far above the pre-sale estimate of $300,000-$500,000.

The still-working computer has an intact motherboard, as well as a vintage keyboard and monitor.

The auction was Bonham's first sale in New York City of items connected to science and technology. Other lots included a letter by Charles Darwin to a colleague about the sex life of barnacles, and a Helmholtz sound synthesiser from 1905, the earliest electrical keyboard.

PA