What is an auction?
The principle of an auction is to bring together the largest possible number of potential buyers in a single place at a given time, in order to sell the items for sale to those offering the highest prices.
This sale method, a perfect illustration of the universal law of supply and demand, is one of the most effective as well as one of the oldest forms of transaction. Although we do not know the exact reason why a hammer is used at the announcement of the sale, the ivory it is made from (in France) has represented the unsullied nature of bidding since the time of the Ancient Egyptians.