The top lot is a July 1976 check to pay US$3,430 for parts for the Apple 1 computer, signed by founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

“This is before they had any investors,” explained Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction, which is conducting the sale.

“The reason it’s signed by both of them is in their charter. For any expense over US$1,000, they both had to agree, and here’s the evidence.”

The auction includes many items relating to Jobs, including high school photos and an application he had filled out for a job at Atari, which will also come as an NFT.

“Steve did not sign very many things. He didn’t like to sign objects. So his signature is very rare. It’s actually one of the rarest signatures that collectors are interested in.

“So any time something comes up with Steve’s signature on it, it goes for a lot of money,” said Steven Levy, editor at large for “Wired” magazine, which focuses on emerging technologies.

The auction house said the items, including a quarter taken from one of the first “Atari Pong” video game machines and a 1960s Douglas Engelbart mouse, help tell the story of computer history.

Other items include a signed first issue of “Macworld” magazine from 1984, and an Atari employee ID from the 1970s.

“What makes these computers and video games so special is they’re prototypes and they’re very early models that are difficult to find,” Livingston said.

“These items are being consigned to us by people from the Silicon Valley that were there when this whole computer revolution started.”