AUCTION
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AUCTIONAUCTION, commerce, contract. A public sale of property to the highest
bidder. Among the Romans this kind of sale, was made by a crier under aspear (sub hasta) stuck in the ground. 2. Auctions are generally held by express authority, and
the person whoconducts them is licensed to do so under various regulations. 3. The manner of conducting an auction is immaterial; whether it be bypublic outcry or by any
other manner. The essential part is the selection ofa purchaser from a number of bidders. In a case where a woman continuedsilent during the whole time of the sale, but
whenever anyone bid she gavehim a glass of brandy, and when the sale broke up, the person who receivedthe last glass of brandy was taken into a private room, and he was
declaredto be the purchaser; this was adjudged to be an auction. 1 Dow. 115. 4. The law requires fairness in auction sales, and when a puffer isemployed to raise the
property offered for sale on bona fide bidders, or acombination is entered into between two or more persons not to overbid eachother, the contract may in general be avoided.
Vide Puffer, and 6 John. R.194; 8 John. R. 444; 3 John. Cas. 29; Cowp. 395; 6 T. R. 642; Harr. Dig.Sale, IV.; and the article Conditions Sale. Vide Harr. Dig. Sale, IV.;
13Price, R. 76; M'Clel. R. 25; 6 East, R. 392; 5 B. & A. 257; S. C. 2 Stark.R. 295; 1 Esp. R. 340; 5 Esp. R. 103 4 Taunt. R. 209; 1 H. Bl. R. 81; 2Chit. R. 253; Cowp. R. 395;
1 Bouv. Inst., n. 976.
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