Now as far as the "60" goes, I'm not really sure. Franc suggested the
possibility of it being the striking voltage. I tend to think not, as it
would
seem that you wouldn't need 230 V to run a tube that only needs 60 V to
start. I don't think it's a wattage rating, as this certainly seems more
powerful
than 60 mW, but is less than 6.0 W. I did notice that the phosphor
coating
(which corresponds exactly to the lighted area) is precisely 60mm long,
so that's a possibility. But, again, I really don't know.

Look at this "blue crystal neon lamp" as used for PC case modding:
http://www.gmb-online.nl/main.asp?mode=item&N=2934

It operates from 12VDC via an inverter. In my previous post I was
thinking that your "special" lamp may have failed as a result of a
faulty inverter, or that the inverter's unloaded voltage may have been
a lot higher than its normal operating voltage.



That's a cold-cathode fluorescent tube, it's exactly what I was suggesting a
while ago.