Apple-1 computer headlines science and tech-themed RR Auction, Dec. 15

Apple-1 computer hand-numbered by Steve Jobs, estimated at $375,000-$500,000

BOSTON – RR Auction‘s Science & Technology sale, scheduled for Thursday, December 15, chronicles the history of scientific advancement in the 20th century and boasts a broad array of important autographs, artifacts, hardware, objects and ephemera. View the fully illustrated catalog on LiveAuctioneers.

The auction opens with memorabilia from the career of Otto Berg, a pioneering space scientist who experimented with the V-2, conducted important research on cosmic dust and had an experiment deployed on the moon during Apollo 17.

Highlights from the collection include a V-2 rocket gyroscope that is possibly a prototype or a test unit. Berg became a pioneer in rocket science as a participant in early experiments that employed V-2 rockets captured from the Germans after World War II. The gyroscope is estimated at $25,000-$35,000.

Aerobee rocket nose cone from the collection of Otto Berg, estimated at $4,000-$6,000

Among the other Otto Berg-related lots, which number nearly 50 in all, is a seven-foot-tall Aerobee rocket nose cone, estimated at $4,000-$6,000, as well as a German V-2 rocket nose cone tip.

Other auction highlights include an original Apple-1 computer. The Apple-1 Byte Shop computer was hand-numbered by Steve Jobs and was restored to its original operational state by Apple-1 expert Corey Cohen. The Apple-1 is not only a marvel of early computing ingenuity but is the product that launched one of the world’s most valuable and successful companies. The computer has an estimate of $375,000-$500,000.

1943 three-rotor Enigma I machine, estimated at $200,000-$300,000

Also featured is a World War II-era three-rotor Enigma I electromechanical cipher machine built for the German military by Heimsoeth and Rinke in Berlin in 1943. It features an ebonite plugboard on the front, which was exclusive to the German armed forces and exponentially increased the complexity of the code. This version of the Enigma is sometimes referred to as the Heeres Enigma. As a functional, war-dated example of the German military’s Enigma machine, this piece is truly a marvel of technological and WWII history. It carries an estimate of $200,000-$300,000.

The Science and Technology Auction from RR Auction began on November 18 and will conclude on December 15. More details can be found online at www.rrauction.com.

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