What I gather on the absentee bidding is that when the auctioneer has competing absentee bids for an item he starts the floor bidding at the highest contested absentee bid. He does not bid the maximum amount that the absent bidder will pay, but only up to the next uncontested increment. The subsequent floor bidder may still bid against the absentee bid held by the auctioneer.
Also note that the sterling is down due to Brexit concerns.
Did anyone get lucky today??? I picked up a nice sidelock yesterday at Gavin's auction for a song.
