Early Apple computer that helped launch $3T company sells at auction for $223,000

Apple-1 computer signed by Steve Wozniak sells for over $223,000 at auction.

This photo provided by RR Auction shows a vintage Apple computer built in the 1970s and signed by company co-founder Steve Wozniak. (AP)

One of the first personal computers built by Apple and signed by company co-founder Steve Wozniak has sold at auction for more than $223,000.

The Apple-1 has been restored to a fully operational state and came with a custom case with a built-in keyboard, according to Boston-based RR Auction, which held the sale that closed Thursday.

About 200 were manufactured in Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' garage in Los Altos, California, in 1976 and 1977 and helped launch the company that in June became the first publicly traded business to close a trading day with a $3 trillion market value. Originally sold for $666, it was expected to sell for about $200,000, RR said.

The Apple-1 was signed “Woz” by Wozniak at an event at Bryant University in 2017.

It was acquired used by the person who sold it in 1980 at a computer hobbyist show in Framingham, Massachusetts, and was used throughout the 1980s. It was brought to an operational state earlier this year by Apple expert Corey Cohen, the auction house said.

It was purchased by a collector who wishes to remain anonymous, RR Auction said.

An original handwritten advertisement for the Apple-1 Computer written by Jobs sold for almost $176,000 at the same auction, RR said.

Apple company check No. 2 signed by Jobs and Wozniak and dated March 19, 1976, sold for more than $135,000.