RR Auction

As we publish this article, these two cards from technology entrepreneurs Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are now the two most expensive business cards that have ever been sold - and the auction doesn't finish until 21 March 2024 at 6 p.m. ET with extended bidding likely.

Collectibles

Jobs and Musk smash auction records ... and the auction isn't finished yet

The booming alternative assets market space added yet another heavyweight genre this week as the world record for a business card was smashed twice today by both Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, and the auction still has four days to run.

The Manhattan_Project document is dated 1 July 1945 and entitled "Atomic Bombs: A General Account of the Development of Methods of Using Atomic Energy for Military Purposes Under the Auspices of the United States Government, 1940-1945." It is signed by all the key scientists including J. Robert Oppenheimer and Nobel Prize winners Enrico Fermi, Ernest Lawrence, James Chadwick, Harold Urey, and Isidor I. Rabi.

Collectibles

Oppenheimer's Manhattan Project report goes to auction

One of the world's most significant historic documents will sell at public auction on the March 14. "Atomic Bombs," written just weeks before the first such weapons dropped on Japan, records a researcher's-eye view of the Manhattan Project.

This remarkable compendium of autographs of the scientists that played a role in understanding and harnessing nuclear power is a one-of-a-kind piece – an irreplaceable relic of what is perhaps the most momentous development in history.

Collectibles

Auction alert: 'Atomic Energy' signed by Einstein, Oppenheimer & others

We believe a book going to auction this week is a rare opportunity for collectors who appreciate significant scientific achievement. The hardcover copy of "Atomic Energy in the Coming Era" (1949) is signed by a "who's who" of 20th Century physics.

Technology

Computer input gloves made by the inventor of the mouse up for auction

If you've ever wanted a pair of gloves associated with one of the great leaps in computer technology, now's the time. Prototype typing gloves developed by Douglas Engelbart and Valerie Landau to replace keyboards as interface devices are up for auction.

An original 2007 Apple iPhone, still sealed in the box, sold for USD $190,372.80 at LCG Auctions "2023 Summer Premier Auction" on 16 July 2023.

Technology

Original 2007 Apple iPhone values surging

The original 2007 Apple iPhone that started the smartphone market is now breaking auction records. In August 2022 an original iPhone sold for US$35,414 then $39,339 in October 2022, $63,356 in February 2023 and now $190,373 on Sunday night.

Albert Einstein's best known award in the present day was Time magazine's Person of the Century. "He was the embodiment of pure intellect, the bumbling professor with the German accent, a comic cliche in a thousand films," Time wrote. "Instantly recognizable, like Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp, Albert Einstein's shaggy-haired visage was as familiar to ordinary people as to the matrons who fluttered about him in salons from Berlin to Hollywood. Yet he was unfathomably profound - the genius among geniuses who discovered, merely by thinking about it, that the universe was not as it seemed."

Science

Einstein paper heads for auction tonight – a bargain in the offing?

A six-page autograph manuscript by Albert Einstein entitled "The Essence of the Theory of Relativity" is being auctioned tonight, and scientific voyeurs can watch all the fun as the heavy-hitters come out to play, as the sale will be live online.

The checklist included notes for Cernan's last words on the Moon

Space

Checklist from last Apollo lunar mission sells for almost US$800,000

A piece of space history has sold at auction for US$744,994 after the moondust-besmirched checklist Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan wore on his spacesuited wrist during the last crewed lunar mission went on the block at RR Auctions.

Douglas Engelbart pictured during the "Mother of All Demos" in December 1968, explaining concepts that really did change the world, with the Smithsonian Institute explaining the significance of the event in this article entitled "How Douglas Engelbart Invented the Future." At right is a diagram from documentation sold with the mouse/keyset, showing the relationship that evolved with Apple Computer. The 1968 "Mother of All Demos" was the first time the concept of the mouse was shown to the public - just 55 years ago.

Technology

Engelbart/SRI mouse smashes record price for a computer mouse

One of the first computer mouses and a coding keyset created by computer pioneer Douglas Engelbart have sold for US$178,936 at auction, with the value finally beginning to reflect the historical status of the pioneering device.

The prototype was built as a demonstrator for Apple's first big sale

Computers

"Lost" Apple computer prototype goes on the auction block

A "lost" artifact from the dawn of the age of the personal computer is going up for sale. Steve Job's original, hand-soldered "Apple Computer A" prototype built in 1976 to support Apple's first big contract is on the auction block at RR Auction.

Buzz Aldrin's Apollo 11 Flown LM Lunar Surface Checklist Page (1969) was sold for $143,750 at RR Auction on 21 October 2021

Collectibles

The highlights of the 2021 science, sci-fi and technology auction year

This is the second part of our overview of the 2021 auction year – a year where investors channeled more of their wealth into “investments of passion” than ever before. It covers the 150 science, sci-fi and technology artifacts that sold for more than $100,000

This image of Nikola Tesla sitting next to his "magnifying transmitter" was created by multiple exposures in his laboratory in Colorado Springs around 1899. The 7-meter-long (23-ft) arcs were not part of the normal operation, but only produced for effect by rapidly cycling the power switch.

Collectibles

Four-page autograph Nikola Tesla letter fetches $340,000 at auction

Nikola Tesla was one of the world's most important innovators and evidence of the gravitas of the Tesla name was on full display at an auction at Remarkable Rarities (RRAuctions) this week when a four-page autograph letter by Tesla fetched US$341,295.

This Apollo 11 Vintage NASA "Red Number" Color 10" x 8" print sold for $125,000 at Heritage Auctions on 24 September 2021

Collectibles

Science and sci-fi memorabilia booming at auction

It would be reasonable to expect a slow year at auction for science, technology and science-fiction, but 2021 is on track for a record, with a slew of knowledge-related objects of note hitting the auction block in recent weeks.