The history of auctions
A brief history of auctions
Auctions have a long history and have been recorded as early as 500 B.C. According to Herodotus, the Babylonians held annual auctions of women for marriage. The auctioneer would begin with the woman considered most beautiful and progress to the least. This was considered the only legal means of selling a daughter.
Auctions were common during the Roman Empire and were often held after military victories. Typically a spear would be driven into the ground where the spoils of war lay and the auction would be conducted. Prisoners of war were taken back to the forum and auctioned off as slaves. The proceeds of these auctions were used to fund the military.
Auctions were also use in Rome to liquidate the confiscated property of debtors. Even the emperor Marcus Aurelius held an auction lasting for months, selling household furniture to pay off debts. However, the auction with the most historical significance is the sale of the entire Roman Empire in 193 A.D by the Praetorian Guard. After killing the emperor Pertinax, the Praetorian Guard auctioned off the Roman Empire to Didius Julianus who paid 6,250 drachmas per guard, the equivalent of $27.46 USD. Two months later, when Septimius Severus conqured Rome, Didius was beheaded.
In the European Middle Ages, King Henry V11 of England instituted some of the earliest auction laws, including auction licenses.
In the 1600’s, auctions were beginning to be held in taverns and coffee houses to sell art and other collectible items in Great Britain. These auctions were held daily, and catalogs were printed to announce available items. Such Auction catalogs are frequently printed and distributed before auctions of rare or collectible items today. Announcements of sales devoted to land appeared in the London Evening Post in 1739.
The oldest auction house in the world is the Stockholm Auction House. However the most well known firms are Sotheby’s which was established in 1744 and Christie’s, founded in 1766.
Auctions in America
American auctions date back to the Pilgrims’ arrival on America’s Eastern Shores in the 1600s. Soon after the colonization of America, the auction process became the accepted manner of selling furs, clapboard, tobacco, corn, and other necessities. As the country developed, settlers on the western frontier bought and sold their land, crops and other items of necessity, to include animals, lumber, horses, debt, credit and, unfortunately, slaves at auction.
During the American civil war goods seized by armies were sold at auction. However, only officers of the Colonel rank could conduct them, spawning the use of the term “Colonel” by many auctioneers still today. Other names of auctioneers include “Knights of the Hammer,” and “Brothers”.” The tools of these auctioneers included the Colonel style hat, a cane, bell, hammer or gavel, and a red flag. The flag, often boasting advertising, was placed above where the auctioneer would sell on the day of the auction.
The Jones’ National School of Auctioneering and Oratory, started by, Cary M. Jones, is believed to be the first school devoted to the art of auction. Although many auctioneers of the time did not believe this was a skill that could be taught, the early 1900’s saw rise to many more schools focused on the art of auction.
It was after World War II that auctioneering started to become what it today.. The sale of goods and real estate was booming. There was a need in certain cases to move real estate and personal property faster than the private market would allow. Thus, the modern day auction business was born. Auctioneers were now businessmen who dressed in suits and ties. They began to nurture the business and raise the reputation of auctioneers. Besides links to the public, auctioneers began to have links to banks, attorneys, accountants, the court system and government agencies.
The last two advances in the auction world evolved in the computer age. These include online bidding integrated with live auctions and online auctions
Auctions have been around for a long time and for good reason. They were and remain an excellent way to quickly move excess merchandise and to turn physical assets in liquid capital.
