The last post reminds me of a lovely story about some medical students at Groote Schuur hospital in Cape Town. After certain operations, they were left with some high quality stainless steel rods, bent into various artistic shapes and patterns, but which could not be re-used.
They took a few of them along to a shop in Long Street, which in those days was junk shops and cheap sleaze, (these days it's fancy restaurants and expensive sleaze) and asked the owner if he'd be interested in buying them. He declined, but accepted their offer to leave a couple 'on consignment'.
Next day a smartly dressed young woman went in and bought both of them as 'modern artwork'.
A few days later one of the students went by, noticed that the objects had been sold, collected his money, and went off, no doubt to piss it against the nearest wall or to painlessly inject it into the local economy (whorehouses in that area).
Later, the students went back with a few more, and within a few days the young lady had bought them all for a high price.
The next instalment, and you may have seen this coming, is that the students went in with a box containing dozens of these things, which the shop owner purchased outright.
They remained there for several years!