Shure model SM33 ribbon microphone.

The microphone was saved from a trash bin by "The Tonight
Show" chief boom operator Stan Sweeney.

An anonymous bidder in 2005 snatched a piece of TV history,
offering $50,787 for the microphone that sat prominently on
the desk of late-night king Johnny Carson until the 1980s.

The offer was about twice that expected at auction.