What just happened? If there's one type of computer memorabilia that's sure to fetch a high price at auction, it's anything signed by Steve Jobs. Proving this point was the recent sale of an Apple Computer business card with the company co-founder's signature that went for $181,183.
The 1983 Apple Computer business card was signed by Jobs at a time when he was the chairman of the board of directors at the Cupertino firm - John Sculley had just been recruited from Pepsi-Cola to serve as CEO at the time. Boston-based RR Auctions writes that the card is extremely rare and has been perfectly graded.
The card features the old six-color Apple logo, which should bring back a few nostalgic memories amongst tech fans of a certain age, as well as the company's former address: 10495 Bandley Drive, in Cupertino, California.
While it is described as being in fine condition for a 40-year-old business card, the description does confirm that there's a faint stain on the front from an old tape stain on the back.
RR Auction believes the $181,183 sales price is a new record-high for a signed business card. Another listing for a Jobs business card, this one without his signature, shows it went for $12,905, around $168,000 less than the signed version.
Anything signed by Jobs tends to bring a high price. His single-page job application form from 1973 has been sold on several occasions, fetching $18,750 in 2017, $174,757 in 2018, and $222,400 in 2021. It was auctioned again in 2021, fetching $343,000 – there was also an NFT of the form that sold for the equivalent of $23,076 at the time.
Checks signed by Jobs also fetch high prices. A $9.18 Apple Computer check he signed 1976 sold for $55,000 in 2022. Another from the same year, for $13.86 to Elmar Electronics, sold in March 2023 for $37,564. Last December, a $4 check that Jobs wrote to Radio Shack in 1976 was auctioned by RR Auction for $36,850.
One of the most expensive items sold that carries Jobs' signature was the original Apple founding contract signed by Jobs and fellow co-founders Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. It was sold by Sotheby's in December 2011 for $1,594,500.
https://www.techspot.com/news/102400-steve-jobs-signed-apple-business-card-sells-over.html
