Apple prototype used to secure company’s first big order sold at auction for nearly $700,000

An authentic prototype of the Apple-1 computer sold for nearly $700,000 recently at a Boston-based auction house.

The prototype was hand-soldered by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak on a unique “Apple Computer A” circuit board, before being used to demonstrate the product by fellow co-founder Steve Jobs.

“In 1976, Jobs used this prototype to demonstrate the Apple-1 to Paul Terrell, owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, one of the first personal computer stores in the world. … What Jobs and Woz had conceived as part of a $40 do-it-yourself kit for hobbyists became, at Terrell’s request, a fully assembled personal computer to be sold at $666.66,” auctioneer RR Auction wrote in the lot’s description.

The anonymous collector who made the purchase on Thursday paid $677,196 for the circuit board.

“There is no Apple-1 without this board — it’s the holy grail of Steve Jobs and Apple memorabilia,” RR Auction’s Executive Vice President Bobby Livingston told The Associated Press.

The prototype, listed as #2 on the Apple-1 registry, was verified by Apple-1 expert Corey Cohen, whose report accompanies the item. Photographic evidence also corroborates the origin of the circuit board.

“The board has been matched to Polaroid photographs taken by Paul Terrell in 1976 showing the prototype in use,” the description on the RR Auction website reads.

Achim Baqué of the Apple-1 Registry confirmed as much in an email to RR Auction.

“I have no doubts it is the prototype presented to Paul Terrell. I have very detailed copies of the Polaroids; every little detail is the same. The 20+ resistors are all in the same position, angle and direction,” Mr. Baqué wrote in the email, which was acquired by technology publication BetaNews.