Apple Computer A prototype owned by Steve Jobs put up for sale

The prototype computer Apple-1 “Apple Computer A”, owned by Steve Jobs, put up for auction from today.

A computer motherboard hand-built by Steve Wozniak in 1976 was used by Steve Jobs to demonstrate the Apple-1 to Paul Terrell, who owned The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California. Byte Shop became the first retail store to sell the Apple-1 after Terrell ordered 50 fully assembled devices and sold them for $666.66 each.

The model has an identification number, this is the second assembled computer in the line. Originality confirmed by expert Corey Cohen.

The board appears to have been pressure damaged in the upper right corner, resulting in a crack that extends from the adjacent power area above D12 down through the bottom of the board to the right of A15. The missing piece is believed to have been thrown away, but can be recovered thanks to photographs by Paul Terrell. One of the distinguishing features of the “Apple Computer A” prototype was the use of three orange Sprague Atom capacitors rather than the Big Blue used on the production Apple Computer 1.

— excerpt from the description of the lot

Compared to the production version of Apple-1, the prototype is called “Apple Computer A”: it has a different processor and does not have the green protective coating for typical Apple-1 computers. It is expected that the value of the lot will exceed $500 thousand, despite the damage. [MacRumors]