Steve Jobs’ 8th-grade science fair project goes up for bids

The project is one of several items that are currently available via auction. Bidding on the project, as of Wednesday morning, stood at $8,475. If you’d like to counter, you have until August 20 at 6:00 PM ET to make a bid. The memorabilia piece comes from the personal collection of Jobs’ stepbrother.

True to form, the Jobs-designed science fair project is eye-catching. With a backer made of thin wood and a curved wooden banner asking onlookers “What is the SCR?,” the project has typed descriptions and explanations stapled to the backer as well as two test circuits showcasing the functionality of the semiconductor devices, which are used to control electrical power. There’s also a note to the judges, urging them to “please unplug!” the circuit after using it. (Even in eighth grade, Jobs was apparently a control freak.)

A written report, bound in a blue folder with hand stenciling, is also included with the item.

“For my science project I have selected to do research and experiment with the silicon-controlled rectifier,” Jobs wrote in the report. “I am making a circuit that demonstrates the basic properties and characteristics of this semiconductor. The silicon-controlled rectifier is the most widely used of a family of four-layer semi-conducter power devices that exhibit regenerative or latching-type switching action. The silicon-controlled rectifier is widely known as the SCR. International standards describe the complete family of semiconducter regenerative switches under the name Thyristors.”

Other memorabilia

While the science project has the most direct ties to Jobs, Apple collectors have a lot to choose from when it comes to company-focused memorabilia.

Some of those are already commanding a high price. An Apple-1 computer in a Smith-Corona typewriter case, with the original documentation, is currently commanding bids of $205,000. And an autographed Jobs business card has hit $103,574, nearly doubling the pre-auction estimate.

Other items include rare Apple devices, a Steve Wozniak-signed Macintosh classic and some Jobs-signed 1976 checks from the Apple account.

The auction firm, by the way, expects the science project could go for more than $20,000 when bidding concludes.

Eager bidders

This is the second half of a two-part auction of Apple memorabilia and loyalists to the company have already shown they’re willing to spend heavily to own a piece of Apple and Jobs’ history.

In the first round, the first check issued by Apple, which was signed by both Jobs and Wozniak, was expected to sell for half a million dollars. By the time bidding ended, it went for $2.4 million. And an Apple-1 prototype board, which was the first-known one on fiberglass, sold for $2.75 million.