For us, a mold is a mold!

about 6 years ago
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A miserable patch of fuzz or a dirty looking dish of mold, whichever way you look at it, it looks like an unwashed dish. But someone, an anonymous buyer from London actually spent a jaw dropping $14,600 for this dish of muck!

Well, this mold is apparently a penicillin culture that belonged to Sir Alexander Fleming, who discovered the world's first antibiotic in 1928. For people like us, we still would shrug our shoulders and fail to understand the logic behind this buy. But for a nerd, this is like a treasure trove and many consider the culture worth the money and maybe more.

Fleming was in the habit of distributing samples of his famous mold as mementos. He gave one to actress Ruth Draper after being captivated by one her performances. A neighbor who scared off burglars from Fleming’s home was also lucky. Fleming gave a sample to Queen Elizabeth’s husband Prince Philip every time they met but it’s not known whether the prince kept the gifts.

It’s all about perspective – for someone ignorant, this is just mold but for a microbiologist, this is a dream come true!

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