Wow. Someone is selling a prototype model of the 1st generation iPhone on ebay and it's already up to more than $12,000 (£9,320) with eight days of bidding left.

It hasn't even hit the owner's reserve price yet.

The 8GB, black iPhone prototype is one of the rarest Apple collectables out there. It was designed for Apple engineers to test an early version of iOS and it is still operational.

It comes with an Apple engineer code "Ver 1.1.1." etched into the rear of the device and was built in 2006, before the first iPhone was released.

It runs testing software, including OS X and Earthbound (iOS before it was called iOS). It was also hand made in Cupertino rather than produced in the East, like almost every production iPhone, and has a number of physical differences to the first consumer model - such as its heavier weight and bell icon instead of a mute button.

Considering how rare this device is and how seldom they appear up for auction, who knows what amount it will go for.

There have been fake prototypes to have hit ebay in the past, but this looks like the real deal and is a genuine slice of technology history. We'll be keeping an eye, if not our paltry funds, on this one.