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I have personally seen it at Fine art auctions when the auctioneer misses an in room bid.Hammer down and that is it.That is (or should be) how it works.An inept auctioneer (and his team including IT) if they are not up to the game they can do one.I won't be bidding on anything on the net or giving my "on the book" prices.Ebay is now fecked so coin/antique fairs it will have to be.

On the basis that a line has to be drawn somewhere, I'm inclined to agree with you. On Friday, there were too many prolonged silences awaiting internet bids, not to mention the aforesaid hammer decision reversal. At the end of the day, if there is a delay in the internet bid reaching the auctioneer - for whatever reason - that is not his fault. He surely has to call it on the basis of what is in front of him at the fair warning moment. So, as you say, once the hammer goes down, that should be bid successful. It has to be, otherwise the credibility of the sale is compromised and the whole process becomes shambolic.

I've added your coin to my rarest pennies website as the 3rd example - hope that's OK, Jerry.

Gouby BP1875Ce.

I have a job as a porter/valuer/general dogsbody in a local auction house and on busy days I operate the internet bidding system for meal breaks etc. There is a definite delay between the hammer going down and the sound reaching those viewing online. We can hear it distinctly if viewing the auction from an adjoining room. A bit like an echo. Sometimes it's worse than others depending on how many are online and the broadband speed. It can also be observed in the time it takes the saleroom screen to update when entering the minimum bid or the next bid or next item. This is because the signal from input has to go to the internet house and then back to the monitor. Personally I find it annoying that some auctioneers bow to the internet too much. Giving them too much time. Another bid is, after all, more money for the vendor and the auction house. Prime responsiblity is always to the vendor. I do think they should give the room preference in such matters because they have made the effort to turn up. The other factor is internet bidders trying to snipe. Constant hovering over the bid button shows on the auctioneer's and operator's screens and the auctioneer has to make up his mind at some time. Normally this will be in the form of a chastisement if the internet bidder is too late. Late bidding from the internet also causes all sorts of problems if it arrives before the operator has chance to hit the sold button. In this case, technically, even though the hammer has gone down the lot has not been marked as sold. This can get even worse if the internet sale is going through more than one internet auction house. I'm heartily glad that we only deal with the one. Add to this that the normal saleroom rules don't apply in certain instances because it's the distance selling rules that count. All the above simply means that, as a retired computer and control engineer, I'm amazed that the system works at all let alone goes wrong so little. Kris

My first significant additions for a month or more, the 1875 was a steal at 99p, well, despite its condition, it is a 'cannonball' flaw and seems to be collectable. The 1881 F106 is slabbed at AU55 by NGC and is nicer in the hand than the photo, it has nice surfaces and overall hint of 'chocolate' subdued lustre in the right light. It cost me about £80 inc postage. Jerry