Auctions are generally agreed to be the absolute model of economic efficiency and hence the fairest, most accurate way of determining the true value of an item and uniting buyers and sellers at just the right price to their mutual benefit. There have been billions of words written about auctions and auction theory, but when a single rare item has a unique provenance, and may be valued quite differently by all those potential buyers who make up the ever-increasing internet universe, an auction is also the perfect way of invoking the “auction winner’s curse.” … More