An Unprecedented Primary Source Archive
The Apple Birth Certificate book cover
▸  See Inside the Book

The original production archive from the security printing company that produced Apple Computer's IPO stock certificate — 97 artifacts documenting the inside story of that process,
never before published or publicly discussed.

Request Press Copy
Apple Computer, Inc. common stock certificate 1980
Apple Computer, Inc. — 1980 IPO  ·  Common Stock Certificate  ·  First National Bank of Boston  ·  CUSIP 037833 10 0
From the Production Archive

Artifacts that have never been seen outside the printing plant

Figure 1
Figure 1 — October 1, 1980
First Internal Memo — re: Apple Computer
Production photograph
Job BN 56002
Production Photograph — Apple II Plus
Figure 27 — Apple corporate seal mockup
Figure 27 — November 18, 1980
Working Mockup-Pasteup — Apple Corporate Seal
Figure 12 — Lithographic negative
Figure 12 — circa October 1980
Lithographic Negative — Apple Logo Film
Figure 23 — Officer signatures
Figure 23 — November 1980
Officer Signatures — Eisenstat & Scott
Figure 72 — Annotated proof
Figure 72 — August 30, 1988
Annotated Proof — 1988 Redesign Revisions
Figure 81 — Stock paper sample
Figure 81 — September 1988
Security Paper Sample — Job B 13017
Figure 97 — Final issued certificate
Figure 97 — 1988 Issue
Final Issued Certificate — BN 13017
97
Original Archive Artifacts
8
Years Documented, 1980–1988
1
Known Complete Archive of Its Kind
Preview

See Inside the Book

The Details
The Details
Figure 9
Figure 9 — October 29, 1980
Figure 16
Figure 16 — November 18, 1980
Figure 68
Figure 68 — December 1980
Prelude & Introduction
Prelude & Introduction
Timeline
Timeline
The Geometry of Identity
Chapters 10–11: The Geometry of Identity
Steel Engraving Dies
Chapter 13: Steel Engraving Dies
The Industrial Lock
Chapters 14–15: The Industrial Lock
The Convergence of Steel
Chapters 20–21: The Convergence of Steel

A forensic account of how Apple went public

When Apple Computer, Inc. filed for its initial public offering in December 1980, the shares it issued had to be represented by physical stock certificates — security instruments produced by engravers, printers, and craftsmen operating in a world entirely unlike Silicon Valley.

The production archive documented in this book captures that process from the inside: the job orders, the working proofs, the corrections, the rejections, and the final authorizations that turned a blank sheet of security paper into the legal instrument of Apple's public birth.

Nothing in this archive has been published before. Nothing has been discussed publicly. It exists because one printing company kept its files, and because those files survived.

Dr. Robert I. Schwartz · Archives International LLC

Press & Media

Author
Dr. Robert I. Schwartz
Subject
Apple Computer IPO, security printing, corporate history
Archive Held By
Archives International LLC
Contact
bob@archivesinternational.com
Request a Press Copy