Steve Jobs Atari application pulled from auction after authentication controversy

An auction of rare Apple memorabilia has concluded, but with its expected highlight of a Steve Jobs Atari application being withdrawn following doubts surrounding its provenance.

RR Auctions of Boston, Mass., has concluded an auction of rare memorabilia that ranged from computers and autographs, to magazines and NFTs. It also included what had been authenticated as the application form Steve Jobs submitted to Atari, but reportedly that was removed from the auction.

It's suspected that the application may instead have been for a position Jobs got in 1973, when he applied to repair equipment in what was called the psych ward at Reed College.

"As such, we can no longer definitively state that this is his Atari job application," RR Auctions told iMore on Friday.

It's a real Steve Jobs application, but may not be for Atari. (Source: RR Auctions)

Among the remaining items, a 1976 check co-signed by both Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, sold for $163,923. The check was made out to Kierulff Electronics for parts for the Apple-I, with a face value of $3,430.00.

This check sold for almost ten times its face value, adjusted for inflation

In 2022 money, that's the equivalent of approximately $17,000. So the check sold for almost ten times its original value.

An original Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, still sealed in its original box, went for $4,230.

The item that sold for the most in the auction was a mockup of a computer, but not one with any Apple connection. It was a prototype home Atari Pong game, and went for $270,910.