This for the FtB legal defense fund. See [go fund me] for details. Rules are below:

The Auction is Closed! The silver bird brain-box fetched $76.

For your consideration we are auctioning a pewter bird’s skull doodad. It’s about 1.75″ long (44mm) and is cast in “high silver quantity scraps” – probably about 50% fine silver and 50% tin. I do not closely track the assay of my castings and do not warrant this as any particular mix, beyond “there is a bunch of silver in this.” (Silver is currently around $35/troy oz; it’s not very expensive)

In case it makes you happy: the silver this was cast from was purchased on Ebay in the form of a coin with the ten commandments (Cecil B. DeMille version) on it. Perhaps that makes this a magical guilt-object or something.

Rules:

You can bid in the comments, or bid by emailing me [link]. If you email, I will assume that you wish to remain anonymous and will post a comment in the bidding section that reads: “Anonymous bid in the amount of $___”

Whoever bids the most for the doodad wins it for $1 more than the second highest bidder bid. For example, if I bid $75 and Joe bids $5 and I’m the highest bidder, that makes Joe the second highest bidder, and I win the doodad for $6. This is a variation of the Ebay bidding algorithm and, while it is less effective at milking money from the bidders, it discourages people from feeling that they need to log in at the last minute and try to bid over someone else. At the time when bidding closes, whichever bid is the highest, whether it’s email or a comment, wins.

The winner is expected to donate the agreed-upon amount to the defense fund and send me suitable proof (a screenshot or whatever) and give me a shipping address, and I’ll send the doodad along.

Since we don’t have an automated bidding system like Ebay, I’d like to discourage “auction sniping.” If you want the thing, bid what you’re willing to pay for it and just see what happens. If you simply must have it, bid $1million for it and if the second highest bidder bids $50, it’s yours for $51.

If you do not win, you owe nothing!

AUCTION CLOSES SEPT 23, AT 10:00AM EST

My comment settings require manual approval for the first comment from a person. If you comment and don’t see it, I’ll get it, fear not. If you email me and do not get an acknowledgement, and you are gmail user, check your spam box. Google’s spam algorithms don’t like me for reasons I have never cared to figure out.