Microsoft co-founder Paul G Allen passed away a few years ago and left a bunch of stuff in his estate. Pac-Man arcade consoles, sci-fi paintings, Apollo space logs, and notations from Steve Jobs are just a few. He was invested in innovation beyond his place in that sphere. Einstein’s letters on the atom bomb even made the list.

Christie’s auction house has held a few sales from Allen’s estate. Gen One was the most recent held on September 10, 2024 at their Rockefeller location. These were a few standouts.

The $cience

Einstein’s Fizzle

As most know, physicists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard wrote a letter to President Roosevelt urging him to explore the use of atomic warfare by Germany. That was in 1939 and we all know what transpired by 1945. What is not well known is that two letters were drafted. The short version was part of Allen’s collection and up for sale. Surprisingly, an explosive bidding war did not happen. The auction room and online buzz was nearly silent. Bidding started at $3,000,000 and ended at the next bid, $3.2 million. The sale realized just below the low estimate of $4 million. Why such a low price for a heavily weighted archival piece?

The letter was typed from Einstein’s dictation. The only handwriting in the lot was his signature, a note to Szilard and a note from Szilard. It is also not the letter that was given to FDR. That letter is longer and in FDR’s library. Needless to say, that one is worth a lot more than this one.

Big Mac

The most erratic and amusing sale was the Cray-I Supercomputer from 1976/78. Today, we love our little hand-held computers that can make phone calls. But, this is no Mac. Only 80 of the Crays were made. This giant c-shaped computer that looks like mod TWA lobby seating held the attention of two phone bidders and the room. They must have been frenemies. The bids got to the point where they upped the bid by a mere $1,000-3,000. We’re talking $501,000! It took a while to get to $599,000. The bidding was near its end. Followed by a sigh from the room, one bidder said they were out. The gavel was to drop in one more count. Then they pulled the bidder back in! The next bid was raised by $27,000 so much that one had to wonder if it was a lucky number. This was a no reserve lot, but come on!

In the end, Cray-I realized a tad over $1,000,000.

Photo-Genetic

A photograph of the DNA double helix model that Jame D Watson and Francis Crick built was a hot lot. This may be only one of two photos that exist before the model was taken down. One is at Cold Spring Harbor Labs and is not signed. Watson, Crick and Rosalind Franklin’s BFF Maurice Wilkins signed the photo. A bit of bidding in the room, online and on the phone got this lot to realize nearly at $40,000. The high estimate was only $5,000.

Note that the Buyer’s Premium is between 15-26%.

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