A 74-cent royalty check made out to a young Stephen Sondheim sold for $20,400 at Doyle Auctions on Tuesday.
The check for the 18-year-old Sondheim came as the author of "Phinney’s Rainbow," a musical satire on college life. Sondheim, then a sophomore at Williams College, wrote the lyrics and music. The show was performed four times in April and May of 1948 and never saw the light of day again.
When sheet music to three songs was published, Sondheim got the royalties. He apparently kept it and never cashed the check, because it has no cancel marks and does not have Sondheim’s signature on the back.
The check, which had an absurd estimate of $100 to $200 by the auction house, was cut in December 1948 by Broadcast Music Inc., the famous licensing company that began in 1939 and has since distributed billions of dollars of royalties to authors.
When the lot closed, the auctioneer made a joke. “That’s a long way from 74 cents!,” he said.
The other highlights of the auction were two gold records. One from the cast recording from “West Side Story,” the movie, sold for $44,800. The “West Side Story” Broadway recording gold record also sold for $28,800.
Doyle auctioned off more than 450 pieces of Sondheim memorabilia from his Manhattan residence and his country home in Connecticut. Sondheim died at the age of 91 in November 2021.
Sondheim’s greatest hits include "West Side Story," "Gypsy," "Sweeney Todd," "Into the Woods," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "Merrily We Roll Along," "Sunday in the Park with George" and many others.
The record for the highest amount paid for a check at auction is the $176,850 paid for Apple Computer Check No. 3 signed by Steve Jobs from March 1976. The check, which pre-dates the official founding of the company, was sold by RR Auctions in March.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.