New York (CNN/Money) – Enough already with the perfume and cufflinks.

If you're searching for a gift that's truly unique, Uncle Sam's got you covered.

The U.S. government has its own online mega-sales of eclectic merchandise – from live burros to lighthouses. In fact, government goodies are currently offered on 164 Web sites and there's plenty to choose from.

You might, for example, consider transcripts of the Nixon/Watergate hearings for that special H.R. Haldeman fan in your life (which start at prices less than $20) or, for $15, a set of engraved notecards adorned with American landmarks.

At last count, federal sites had sold some $3.6 billion worth of goods, according to a joint study by Pew Internet & American Life Project and Federal Computer Week magazine.

So, who's selling and what's for sale?

For more than three decades the Bureau of Land Management has auctioned off mustangs and burros to keep their populations in check. And in 1998, the bureau began allowing individuals to bid on the animals online. The more than 7,000 animals sold at both live and Internet auctions last year came from 200 federal management areas throughout the west. You do have a choice as to whether you purchase a wild animal or one that's been "gentled" to wear a halter.

Bidding starts at $125, with the average sale running $400. Karen Malloy, a wild horse and burro specialist who runs the Internet auctions, said the government also requires people to have proper facilities for the animals. The BLM sends vets to inspect the horses within a year of the sale and if animals aren't kept in proper facilities, the agency can take it back. And if it turns out you can't keep the animal, you can give it back to the bureau in the first year.

The Library of American Folklife Center has collected thousands of recordings of America's blues players and now sells audiocassettes of its collections for $8.95 a pop. Some of the recordings also are also available on compact discs for about $17 each. In addition to blues, the Folklife Center collection includes ballads, American "sea songs and shanties," ragtime, jazz, blues and religious music. Many of the recording mixes are edited by people like producers Charlie Seeger (father of Pete Seeger) and Alan Lomax (two of his songs were in the movie, "Brother, Where Art Thou?"), who was responsible for promoting the music of Woodie Guthrie and Burl Ives.

Buying money? Sure. You won't be able to spend it but you can buy sheets of uncut currency from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. You can get sheets of singles, fives or twenty-dollar bills. (Depending on the denomination and how many bills to a sheet, prices range from about $15 to $609.) And yes, the sheets are bona-fide legal currency.

If that doesn't interest you, the DEP has plenty of other "specialty products." You can get engravings of American "vignettes" such as "Liberty Uniting the World," "The Wright Brothers" and "Flag." The vignettes – which cost $120 each -will be released throughout 2003.

Looking for something less pricey? The agency sells note cards ($15) adorned with various American landmarks as well as a 24-minute cassette (also $15) on how money is made -- perfect for proving to your kids that money doesn't grow on trees.

Images by some of the great Depression-era photographers -- including Dorthea Lange, Ansel Adams and Lewis Hine -- are just some of the 126,000 images you can find from the National Archives and Records Administration web site. In fact, NARA is a treasure trove of interesting finds. The agency doesn't post all of its 9 million photographs and maps on line, but it sells reproductions of all its collection?

Know a Civil War buff? Find them records or maps from Civil War battles. And if photography's your thing, you've got plenty to choose from. (The NARA collection includes shots of, oh, Nixon meeting Elvis, President Clinton playing the saxophone for Boris Yeltsin and Lange's searing photos of the Depression. (For more information, click here.) Reproductions aren't expensive, either – about $20 each.

Time was, every reporter was dying to get his hands on these recordings. Today, you don't need to be Woodward or Bernstein to get the inside scoop. NARA's holdings currently include 1,779 hours of Watergate tapes available to the public.

Choose from, oh, the "Abuse of Power" tapes (some 205 hours) or the Watergate Trial tapes, providing some 12-½ hours of listening pleasure. Prices vary depending on how much you're willing to listen. In general, a 30-minute recording runs $18. But the complete set runs $702. Recordings are generally available in CD format, too.

Until a few years ago, it was not uncommon to purchase lighthouses from the General Services Administration. Today, lighthouses that the federal government no longer needs still come up for sale, but it's much more difficult to buy them. That's because state, municipal and other local governments - along with non-profits - are now given the first opportunity to purchase these historic buildings, says Wayne Wheeler, president of the U.S. Lighthouse Society, a San Francisco-based non profit group.

Many of the society's 11,000 members are individuals who already own lighthouses and the group publishes information about upcoming GSA sales along with other lighthouse features, in its newsletter, "Keepers Log". If you are lucky enough to nab one, it'll likely set you back more than $1 million.

Not to be left out, the Drug Enforcement Administration has its own museum (complete with gift shop) in Washington, D.C. If you can't make it to the gift shop, no problem. The DEA, like many agencies, sells its wares online. But think again if you're considering picking up DVD recordings of, say, "Blow" or "Scarface." DEA gifts are much more tame. (Think teddy bears in DEA T-shirts, baseball caps, coffee mugs and golf shirts.)

If your child is dreaming of becoming an astronaut, then head over to the NASA Web site where you can buy a remote-controlled space shuttle that comes with moving bays, doors, flashing lights and various sounds or, say, a "space" chess set. There are adult-geared gifts, including a large T-shirt that reads "Science Rules!" and posters of the Apollo Saturn V Rocket.

Those who collect holiday ornaments may find something online, too. You can buy commemorative ornaments from the White House, the National Gallery of Art and, for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt home gift shop - an ornament of Fala, FDR's beloved Scottish terrier.

If you can't find what you want, keep looking. You're bound to come across something that meets your gift-giving needs. Those in the market for luxury goods, including boats, cars and homes, should consider bidding on government auctions of seized property. (For more on those hot items, see our story, "Going Once. Hot cars, stolen property.")

Still looking? Then visit the federal shopping site, FirstGov, which lets you search for goods by government agency, theme (books and gifts; cars and transportation; collectibles and the like). A little digging will turn up used military equipment, savings bonds and nautical charts - among other goodies.