A significant collection of early Apple memorabilia is up for bid this month, giving collectors a chance to own artifacts tied to the company’s origin story as it approaches its 50th anniversary, tells Tech Xplore. The headline item is an original $500 Wells Fargo check signed in March 1976 by Apple cofounders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, written weeks before they formally established Apple Computer. Auction house RR Auction estimates the check could fetch as much as $500,000, and as of mid-January, bids had climbed past $200,000. Jobs seldom signed autographs, making this document especially rare.
Other historic pieces include Apple’s first financial statement from the same Wells Fargo account and a prototype board from the Apple-1, the company’s earliest computer designed by Wozniak. Early Apple posters, letters, magazines, vintage computers, and personal items from Jobs’ formative years are also part of the sale, some of which come directly from his stepbrother’s collection.
Collectors and historians see these items as more than curiosities. Corey Cohen, a computer historian and Apple-1 expert, called the signed check “the most important piece of paper in Apple’s history,” reflecting the risks the founders took in the fledgling venture. Items tied to Jobs in particular attract strong interest, as his personal brand and influence on technology culture have created a devoted following over the decades.
Among the lots are Jobs’ personal effects, including papers found in his old bedroom desk from the family home where some Apple-1 units were assembled. Even small items such as an Apple business card with a handwritten note by Jobs have drawn bids in the tens of thousands. The auction closes January 29, and though Apple itself did not comment, the event highlights the enduring fascination with the company’s early history and the material culture of Silicon Valley giants.