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Message:: [QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 26591130, member: 101855"]In the old days it met that the lot was sold to someone who had bid a reserve ahead of the auction. It also could mean that the consignor had a reserve, and it was not met. Today Heritage indicates when a lot is bought back by the consignor. So far as a dishonest opertion might do, who knows? Years ago a dealer told me about an small auction he attended where the auctioneer was pointing to the back as he raised the bids. The dealer looked around and saw that there was no one behind him. The dealer decided that he was bidding against "the wall." Many years ago I attended a Saturday morning session that was conducted by a then major coin company. There were few in attendence. The items were all California fractional gold pieces. The auction would open up at say $100, and people in front were bidding against each other. Then a guy in back yelled "$5,000!!!!" or sometimes "$6,000!" That ended the bidding because the people in front had only bid $300 or $400. The guy did that time after time. He placed a bid that way over the level that was on the floor at least 30 or 40 times, and it was the same guy. A few months later this same company was selling a catalog full of California fractoinal gold pieces. In their write-up they stated, "Past auction results for this item were ... $5,000 or $6,000." I think you get the idea.[/QUOTE]