The names of former University of Otago students, carved into lecture theatre desktops more than a century ago, proved an attractive offering at a Dunedin auction yesterday.
Four carved panels featuring the names of students from the 1880s to the early 20th century were sold for a total of $2385 at Hayward's Auction House.
Auctioneer John More said the four panels fetched $850, $675, $350 and $510.
There had been considerable interest in the items, and a former student believed at least some of the panels were from a desktop in a former physics lecture theatre.
The items had previously been ''rescued'' from a skip after they were thrown out, apparently during renovations at the university registry in 1994.
