A collection of items belonging to Steve Jobs, including early Apple documents and personal effects, has been consigned to RR Auction. These items are part of a larger sale that features the first check issued by Apple Computer Inc.
Chovanec Collection Details
John Chovanec, stepbrother to Steve Jobs, has provided a collection of Jobs's personal items. Chovanec acquired these items from Jobs's childhood bedroom. The collection includes:
- Jobs's desk, containing Reed College notebooks and work from his time at Atari in the mid-1970s.
- Bob Dylan and Joan Baez 8-track tapes.
- Magazines collected by Jobs's father featuring cover stories about his son.
- An annotated horoscope generated by an Atari computer.
- Jobs's copy of How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive.
- An early Apple poster previously displayed in the family home.
- A dozen bow ties worn by Jobs in high school.
- A document signed by Jobs concerning the sale of his father’s 1984 Ford Ranger pickup.
Early Apple Computer Inc. Check
The auction's primary item is the first check issued by Apple Computer Inc., dated March 16, 1976. This predates the company's formal partnership agreement by 18 days. The $500 check, co-signed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, was paid to circuit-board designer Howard Cantin for work on what would become the Apple 1. Cantin reportedly opted for direct payment over stock. Funds for the payment were sourced from the sale of Jobs’s VW bus and Wozniak’s HP calculator.
Previous sales include Apple check #2, dated March 19, 1976, which sold for $135,261 in August 2023. RR Auction anticipates a sale price approaching $500,000 for the first check.