When Steve Jobs made a purchase at RadioShack in 1976, he paid $4.01 via a signed check, which just sold at auction for $46,063. RR Auction House held its Fine Autographs and Artifacts Auction from November 17 to December 6. The technology section of the auction featured a check signed by Steve Jobs.
Previous analysis believed that the check was expected to fetch around US$25,000, but it was ultimately sold for US$46,063.
RadioShack played an important role in the pre-Apple days, with company co-founder Steve Wozniak purchasing his TRS-80 microcomputer system at the retailer. In the early days of Wozniak and Jobs' partnership, they built and sold about 200 "blue boxes," which cost about $150 each.
This check was written just 4 months after Apple was founded, showing that RadioShack was still an important resource in Apple's early days.
In May of this year, another Apple check signed by Jobs in July 1976 also went up for auction. However, the check for $175, payable to Crampton, Remke and Miller, was sold for $106,985.
Apple memorabilia keeps showing up at auctions and fetching eye-popping prices. At the same auction, a well-packaged first-generation iPhone sold for $10,456.