Apple Computer Check Signed by Steve Jobs Sells for $46,000

[Skyscraperfan]

Sounds a lot of money for a check, but it still seems more rational than paying $40,000 for a Bitcoin or $100,000,000 for a painting. Stuff is always worth as much as the next person would be willing to pay for it.

I saw it as irrational when someone paid $60,000 for one of those original Darth Vader helmets. They are just a piece of plastic with not much better quality than the fake helmets. However later someone bought such a helmet for $250,000. So the $60,000 might have been a good deal.

The number of rich people in the world who have run out of ideas what to do with their money grows rapidly. That's why many collector's items' prices explode. There are simply more and more people who can afford to pay a high price for them.

The dangerous thing for celebrities is that their stuff gets worth much more after they die. So one day a celebrity might be murdered just to increase the price of some clothes he once has worn. The same is true for art. There is a high incentive for art collectors to get the artist killed. The painting will instantly triple in value or more. That would worry me a lot if I was an artist.

 

[BanjoDudeAhoy]

Also, can you imagine writing a physical check for $4.01 these days? It would be absurd.

I’ve never written one and only once cashed one. Maybe it’s more of a US thing?

But even back then (before my time, mind you) - would that not have been primarily to keep track of expenses?
I’m sure he could have just paid cash.

 

[Bug-Creator]

The number of rich people in the world who have run out of ideas what to do with their money grows rapidly. That's why many collector's items' prices explode.

+ FOMO
+ cult of personality


In reality it is just 0.0000000000000001ct worth of paper to be recycled but as long as their is a fool who thinks (rightful or not) there is a bigger fool down the line fantasy prices aren't fantasy but the real value of ancient trash.

 

[Sippincider]

Did the store owner recognize its potential value and stash it away without cashing it?

A character from an obscure startup, just ramping up their first product, comes into the store and writes a check?? The store owner was probably just happy the check cleared.

 

[thefourthpope]

Look at that skeuomorphic check!

Maybe it wasn’t all Forstall’s fault . . .

 

[Blackstick]

It's only money. and not a lot at that, compared to many other hobbies.

I agree, $4.01 is very reasonable.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I’m curious to know what the ownership history of this check is. Obviously, once written, it was the property of Radio Shack, but did they ever cash it? Did the store owner recognize its potential value and stash it away without cashing it? An employee wouldn’t have had any legal right to it. If cashed, did someone at the bank have a right to ownership?

It used that be that you have your cashed checked returned to you at the end of the month, and you could use them to balance your checking, so this could have went back to Apple.

Now you just see a picture online of the cashed check.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

It used that be that you have your cashed checked returned to you at the end of the month, and you could use them to balance your checking, so this could have went back to Apple.

Now you just see a picture online of the cashed check.

Huh. So I'm well into my 50s and had been writing checks since my teens up until the past couple decades, and I just don't remember that being a thing. When did that go away? Or is it just one of those things I have completely forgotten about?

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Huh. So I'm well into my 50s and had been writing checks since my teens up until the past couple decades, and I just don't remember that being a thing. When did that go away? Or is it just one of those things I have completely forgotten about?

I'm in my mid 40s. At the local banks where I grew up, it stopped somewhere in the mid to late 90s. I opened my first checking account sometime in high school (94-98), and I remember getting them back.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

I'm in my mid 40s. At the local banks where I grew up, it stopped somewhere in the mid to late 90s. I opened my first checking account sometime in high school (94-98), and I remember getting them back.

Yeah, the more I think about it, I do recall cancelled checks. I guess it was such a routine thing, and been so long now that I've long forgotten about it. I guarantee you there are many other examples.

 

[Robert1893]

A check signed by former Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs sold for $46,063 at auction this week. Issued by "Apple Computer Company" in 1976, the $4.01 check was made out to electronics retailer RadioShack.

Jobs filled out the check on July 23, 1976, which was the time that he and Steve Wozniak were working on the Apple-1 computer. The two produced approximately 200 Apple-1 machines, 50 of which were sold to The Byte Shop in July 1976 and retailed for $666.66.

The RadioShack check lists a Palo Alto address for an answering service and mail drop off point that Jobs used while Apple was being run out of his parents' garage.

RR Auction expected the check to sell for at least $25,000, but it sold for more. Apple and Steve Jobs memorabilia has been fetching higher and higher prices in recent years.

Another check signed by Steve Jobs was put up for auction this week by Sothebys, and it too could sell for upwards of $40,000. The check predates Apple's April 1, 1976 founding date as it was written on March 28, 1976. It is one of a handful of checks issued to Jobs and Wozniak ahead of when they received their custom-printed Apple Computer Company checkbook.

Article Link: Apple Computer Check Signed by Steve Jobs Sells for $46,000

And just like that, for one day, Radio Shack is relevant again.

 

[switz]

One needs to get a copy of every check back at least to serve as proof of payment for an item or property when the IRS questions your cost basis. They wanted to see the actual check back in the day, not just the ledger entry. They now have to accept the image on your bank statement as the check itself was destroyed.

BTW. One must have access to all those checks that were used when one built their home 30+ years ago. Other wise the IRS will disallow your cost basis. Personal family experience. Dad built the home in 1949/1950 and sold it in 1973 and was missing one bundle of cancelled checks that were relevant. The long time capital gain was thus higher due to reduced cost basis and the IRS got lots more money.

 

[btbeme]

Also, can you imagine writing a physical check for $4.01 these days? It would be absurd.

I'd like to get my hands on the check that The Dude had to write to the grocery store to buy half and half for 79 cents. Now THATS a piece of memorabilia!

 

[jonblatho]

RR Auction expected the check to sell for at least $25,000, but it sold for more.

Well, yes, that’s basically what “at least” means.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

I'd like to get my hands on the check that The Dude had to write to the grocery store to buy half and half for 79 cents. Now THATS a piece of memorabilia!

Better yet... a bag of a certain variety of apples!

 

[jonblatho]

Also, can you imagine writing a physical check for $4.01 these days? It would be absurd.

My auto insurance mailed me a check for $1.97 after I switched to them this fall. I’m still not totally sure why, but you bet I deposited it.

 

[johnjohns]

And just like that, for one day, Radio Shack is relevant again.

I remember that Radio Shack. It was a few blocks from Steve’s house. My friend and I spent a lot of time there in the 70’s. We got kicked out once. I think it’s a dance studio or haircut place now.

 

[Sippincider]

My friend and I spent a lot of time there in the 70’s.

Wonder if Steve spent any time there after the TRS-80 showed up!

(The Apple II did beat it to market by 1-2 months, though at over double the price.)

 

[britboyj]

This news article sounds like it was written by ChatGPT.

 

[SpringKid]

Is this how checks are usually signed, 01/100 for one cent?

 

[switz]

Yes

 

[sbuntin]

No. Back then, when the recipient of a check deposited it, the check went through the clearing process. The bank where it was deposited processed it, then it went to a clearinghouse, then to the bank the check was issued from. The funds were transferred through this process, then the original check was returned to the entity who wrote it, in this case it would be the accounting department at Apple.

So someone at Apple got a hold of it at some point, and eventually it made its way to auction.

These days it works differently, where checks are deposited via EFT and never have to leave the hands of whoever received the payment. But back then, every check you wrote would come back to you. (or your company)

The check was written three months after Apple was founded. Probably wasn't much of an accounting department at that point.

 

[tridley68]

Somebody with more money than Brains

 

[sirdir]

Also, can you imagine writing a physical check for $4.01 these days? It would be absurd.

Writing checks seemed absurd to me even 30 years ago.

 

[redheeler]

I miss Radio Shack, it had some neat stuff that's really hard to find in physical stores now. Probably a combination of online stores, and how everything is almost impossible to repair nowadays which made the electronics tinkering hobby even more niche than it was...