Mold used by Fleming to make penicillin sells for $14,597

The off-white, nearly 90-year-old swatch of microbes has a rather extraordinary history: it was first created by Alexander Fleming to make penicillin, a revolutionary discovery that brought the world its first antibiotic.

Matthew Haley, director of books and manuscripts at Bonham's, said Fleming often sent the samples out to dignitaries including the Pope and Marlene Dietrich as "a kind of holy relic."