Apple-1 ‘Prototype Board #0’ system is expected to fetch $500,000+ at a 50th Anniversary auction — and the firm’s first ever check is valued at the same amount

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Apple-1 ‘Prototype Board #0’ system is expected to fetch $500,000+ at a 50th Anniversary auction — and the firm’s first ever check is valued at the same amount

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As a validation prototype, the Apple-1 Prototype Board #0 includes several distinguishing features that set it apart. For example, it uses “wave-soldered Robinson-Nugent sockets instead of the cheaper Texas Instruments sockets used on production boards,” notes RR Auctions. It also has a different heatsink and a unique modification to diagnose RAM timings.

For the estimated $500,000+ hammer price, you won’t just get the aforementioned system PCB. That would be poor value. You also get a vintage, period-correct Key Tronic keyboard (c. 1977), a vintage, period-correct power supply, a vintage Sony TV , a replica Apple-1 Operation Manual, signed in blue felt tip by Steve Wozniak, and a replica Apple-1 schematic, signed in blue felt tip by Steve Wozniak.

Apple’s check #1.Apple’s earliest ledger.An Apple-1 prototype that predates production.The artifacts that mark Apple’s transition from idea to company—now together in one sale.Steve Jobs & the Computer Revolution: The Apple 50th Anniversary Auction. Now open at @RRAuction .… pic.twitter.com/x2jh8FpBjB January 6, 2026

Lot 6000 is a mere sliver of paper, but has the same auction estimate of “$500,000+.” It is a Wells Fargo check for $500, signed by Steve Jobs and Wozniak. This is the first-ever check made from Apple's first bank account. Tying in with the Apple-1 Prototype board, above, this check was to pay for the design of the Apple-1 PCB.

Apple Computer was officially incorporated as a business entity sixteen days after the date on this check. That would be on April Fool’s Day, 1976.

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Related posts:

  1. Apple-1 ‘Prototype Board #0’ system is expected to fetch $500,000+ at a 50th Anniversary auction — and the firm’s first ever check is valued at the same amount
  2. Apple-1 ‘Prototype Board #0’ system is expected to fetch $500,000+ at a 50th Anniversary auction — and the firm’s first ever check is valued at the same amount
  3. Apple-1 ‘Prototype Board #0’ system is expected to fetch $500,000+ at a 50th Anniversary auction — and the firm’s first ever check is valued at the same amount
  4. Apple-1 ‘Prototype Board #0’ system is expected to fetch $500,000+ at a 50th Anniversary auction — and the firm’s first ever check is valued at the same amount

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