Portuguese businessman Orico Silva chose the latter route when his in-court financial dispute ended in bloodshed. Silva, who owns a 50-acre farm in the town of Figueira da Foz, was sued by a title company for holding onto a cash deposit on a land deal that had fallen through.

When Silva refused to pay off his $217,000 debt, a judge declared that part of his farm needed to be sold. That’s when Silva removed a butcher’s knife from his briefcase and cut off one of his fingers.

“My intention was to tear up all the case papers and splatter them with blood so I could prevent the expropriation order for my land,” Silva was quoted as saying. After shocking the judge and lawyers, he proceeded to cut his severed finger into three pieces to further protest the sale.

“I didn’t feel anything, I could even have cut off all my fingers,” said Silva. “It was an act of despair.”

If your company needs help switching vendors to e-payments, Calcutta, India police officials could be just the source of buy-in you’re looking for. They’ve convinced Laxmi Das, a local beggar, to deposit her growing coin collection into a bank.

The 60-year-old Das had been collecting coins for 44 years and storing them in her small hut. But after word got out about the location of her coin collection, police officers feared for its security. Das had spent her begging collections on essential items like food and clothing, but socked the rest away for her eventual retirement.

Her coin collection, worth nearly $800, should be a nice start. And if that’s not enough to keep her going, there’s good news: Bank officials said Das’ deposit was large enough to qualify for a credit card.