How bits of Apple history can be yours

In March 1976, Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak both signed a $500 check weeks before the official creation of a California company that would transform personal computing and become a global powerhouse.

- BY QUEENIE WONG

AN APPLE-1 computer is included in the collection. The auction ends Jan. 29.

(Photographs by RR Auction)

Now that historic Wells Fargo check could be sold for $500,000 at an auction that ends on Jan. 29. The sale, run by RR Auction, includes some of Apple’s early items and childhood belongings of Jobs, Apple’s co-founder and chief executive, who died in 2011 at 56, after battling pancreatic cancer.

Since its founding, the Cupertino tech giant has attracted millions of fans who buy its laptops, smartphones, headphones and smart watches. The auction gives the adoring public a chance to own part of the company’s history ahead of Apple’s 50th anniversary in April.

"Without a doubt, check number one is the most important piece of paper in Apple’s history," said Corey Cohen, a computer historian and Apple-1 expert, in a video about the item. At the time, Apple’s cofounders, he added, were "putting everything on the line."

Cohen said he’s known of a governor, entrepreneurs, award-winning filmmakers and musicians who own rare Apple collectibles. Jobs is a “cult of personality,” and people collect items tied to the tech mogul.