Personal Finance

4 things in your basement that are worth thousands

Mary Bowerman
WATCH LIVE
The Apple II was designed and built by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak by the end of 1976.
SSPL | Getty Images

Just like everything comes back into style, that old video game set you've had since 1989 might now be worth a significant amount of money.

Take for instance, the California woman who dropped off her unwanted computer at a Silicon valley e-waste recycling firm in 2015 without knowing the bulky machine was worth thousands of dollars. The recycling firm CleanBayArea sold the woman's rare Apple 1 computer at auction for $200,000.

Rather than going through the heartache of later finding out your junk was actually treasure, on-demand home services app Handy, recently asked Bonhams auction house to identify everyday tech items that are rare and valuable.

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Here are four items picked by Adam Stackhouse, a Senior Specialist at Bonhams, that might be hiding in your basement or attic:

Lunar Globe, by Denoyer-Geppert

A globe may seem like no big deal, but this is one you don't want to sell for $5 at garage sale. The 200 first editions of the 16-inch Denoyer-Geppert Lunar Globe were produced to commemorate the Apollo 10 mission. A Denoyer-Geppert Lunar Globe sold for $4,250 at a Bonhams auction in 2015. Time period: 1969-1972.

Snow White PlayStation 2C. 2001:

Only 666 units of this all-white 'Snow White' version of the PlayStation 2 and its matching controller were made for each region. According to Bonhams, the game system is overlooked by some owners because it looks much like the standard white PS2. A Snow White PlayStation 2 was listed for $780 - $1180 at a 2016 auction by Catawiki. Time period: 2001

Apple II Computer:

Everyone's heard of Apple I, but Apple II computers are also a hot-ticket item you want to hold on to. The most valuable is the Rev 0 motherboard model, according to Stackhouse's picks. A 1977 Apple II sold for $6,100 at a 2011 auction on eBay. Time period: 1977-1981.

Zenith "Companion" Portable Radio (Believed to be the first portable radio):

Only 1,000 Zenith "Companion" radios were manufactured. According to Stackhouse, 600 were returned. A 1924 Zenith "Companion" Portable radio sold for $12,000 at an auction on eBay in 2014. Time period: 1924.

You can see the full list of tech treasures here.