Danny Weber
13:58 10-01-2026
© Boston’s Rare and Remarkable Auctions
RR Auction marks Apple's 50th with 191 historic lots, led by Apple-1 Prototype Board #0 and Apple's first company check. Bidding runs through January 30.
An auction marking Apple’s 50th anniversary has opened in the United States, and its lots are already being called historic. RR Auctions launched a sale titled “Steve Jobs & the Computer Revolution,” offering 191 items tied to Apple’s early years and to Steve Jobs himself. Bidding runs through January 30, yet the headline pieces are already drawing collectors from around the world.
The marquee lot is the Apple-1 Prototype Board #0, the earliest known prototype of the Apple-1. Organizers estimate it could fetch more than $500,000. According to the auction house, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak used the board to validate the Apple-1’s design before production, and it served as the basis for the first computers delivered to the Byte Shop.
The prototype stands apart from commercial Apple-1 units. It features pricier connectors, a different cooling approach, and modifications for memory diagnostics. The winning bidder also receives period accessories: a keyboard, a power supply, a Sony television, and replicas of Apple-1 documentation signed by Steve Wozniak.
No less emblematic is Apple’s first company check, also valued at more than $500,000. It’s a Wells Fargo check for $500, signed by Jobs and Wozniak and drawn on Apple’s very first bank account. The funds went toward developing the Apple-1 printed circuit board, and the company was officially registered just 16 days later, on April 1, 1976.
The sale captures the moment Apple shifted from an idea to a functioning business, uniting artifacts from the dawn of one of the most influential technology companies in history. The appetite for these items suggests that early symbols of the computer revolution are now prized with the kind of respect once reserved for fine art.