A 1976 “Apple Computer Company” check signed by Steve Jobs is currently up for auction. The check, which Jobs signed to pay for Apple’s Pacific Telephone service bill was written on July 8, 1976, for the amount of $201.41. The address on the check is “770 Welch Rd., Ste. 154, Palo Alto,” which was the first official business address of Apple.
The check carries the highest grade of “GEM Mint 10” by PSA/DNA, which means the check is in pristine condition and carries significant historical value, signifying a crucial point in the development of personal computing.
30 years before the iPhone, Steve Jobs pays Apple Computer’s $200 telephone bill
Apple Computer Company check, 6 x 3, filled out in type and signed by Jobs, “steven jobs,” payable to Pacific Telephone for $201.41, July 8, 1976. Headed “Apple Computer Company,” the check uses Apple’s first official address at “770 Welch Rd., Ste. 154, Palo Alto” — the location of an answering service and mail drop that they used while still operating out of the famous Jobs family garage. In very fine condition. Encapsulated and graded by PSA/DNA as “GEM MT 10.” A desirable Jobs-signed check paying Apple Computer’s telephone bill some 31 years before the release of the first iPhone on June 29, 2007.
During this period in the summer of 1976, roughly four months after founding the Apple Computer Company, Jobs and Wozniak were hard at work building their first product. Though initially conceived as a kit to be soldered together by the end user—like most enthusiast computers of the era—the Apple-1 became a finished product at the behest of Paul Terrell, owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, one of the first personal computer stores in the world. Terrell offered to buy 50 of the computers—at a wholesale price of $500 a piece, to retail at $666.66—but only if they came fully assembled. With this request, Terrell aimed to elevate the computer from the domain of the hobbyist/enthusiast to the realm of the mainstream consumer. Wozniak later placed Terrell’s purchase order in perspective: ‘That was the biggest single episode in all of the company’s history. Nothing in subsequent years was so great and so unexpected.’
Thus, the Apple-1 was one of the first completely assembled ‘personal’ computers that simply worked out of the box with a few accessories that could be purchased from a local electronics store (a power supply, case, keyboard, and monitor were not included). All together, over a span of 10 months or so, Jobs and Wozniak produced about 200 Apple-1 computers and sold 175 of them. A superb check signed by the innovative personal computing pioneer.
The check is part of an auction from RR Auctions, called the “Steve Jobs and the Apple Computer Revolution” collection. It concludes on March 21, 2024.
Steve Jobs’ autographed memorabilia makes for popular memorabilia auctions. In December 2023, a $4.01 Apple Computer Company check made out to Radio Shack, written and signed by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 1976 sold for $46,063 at auction. The check had been expected to fetch at least $25,000.
There are several other notable items in the auction, including a Steve Jobs signed Apple business card circa 1983.
The auction also features a letter typed and signed by Steve Jobs in 1983, in which he declines an invitation to speak at an early event. The April 1983 document says Jobs opted out of a speaking engagement at Arizona State University’s ‘Computer Day,’ to allow him to focus on the upcoming launch of the Macintosh.
(Via AppleInsider)
