"Johnny’s Mic", the Shure microphone that sat on the
desk of Johnny Carson during "The Tonight Show"
from 1962 to the early 1980’s. 

The mic was sold at a Heritage Galleries auction in
Dallas in 2005 for over $50,000 to an anonymous
collector, and it’s likely still in a private collection,
making it a prized piece of television history rather
than being publicly displayed.

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.