Mechanical Memories Magazine

The Good .... The Bad ....
And the Damn Right Dishonest.
On the morning of the auction, I was informed by one of the vendors, Amnon Naor, that
he had had to leave two of his lots at home as there was not enough room in the van. The
lots in question were the Mills Roman Head and the Jennings Little Duke. Needless to
say I was particularly annoyed with this situation, as not only were these two of the star
Jots, but some of the lots that he had managed to cram into the van could only fairly be
described as junk. Now, at this point I should admit that I was probably a little nai:ve
here; how could there not have been room for a Little Duke? It would almost have fitted
in the glove compartment!
Anyway, the auction commenced and I think we all had an enjoyable afternoon.
However, after we had paid in and out, I learned that the two lots in question had indeed
arrived, but had been sold before they reached the front door. There were other items
involved in this early morning transaction too. Does anyone recall seeing lot 87, the cast
iron Gold Changer? No? Not surprising really; that was another of Amnon's lots sold
before it got through the door. To say that I was livid would be an understatement, and
needless to say, Amnon Naor will not be welcome at any of our future events.
As for the bloke who bought all of these machines, he should have known better.
He knew they were entered in the auction, and should have allowed their sale to take it's
natural course. I have decided not to name the buyer, as my greatest anger is with the
vendor; it was his responsibility to ensure his lots reached the saleroom. However, I
' accidentally' revealed the buyer's identity in an email to a well known and respected
collector, whose reply was: "So xxxxx was the other guilty party? Maybe he should be
named and shamed as well. I think that was very underhand and disrespectful to you and
everyone else who attended. At the very least you could demand the buyer's premium
unless he wishes to forfeit his right to bid at another of your auctions." Well, as I've
already stated, I'm not naming the buyer nor am I going to waste my time asking for the
buyer's premium. But, just in case he or anyone else thinks I'm some kind of bloody
doormat - I'm not.
At the risk of stating the obvious, there are two issues here. First: Many who
attended the event would have been disappointed, even annoyed that some of the lots
were missing. A good number of people travelled a considerable distance that day, and
they were badly let down. Not only were the 'missing' lots listed in the catalogue, but I
also mentioned both the Roman Head and Little Duke on the pennymachines site and on
Ebay. I even included a picture of the Roman Head on the front cover of the catalogue.
Whilst I'm sure we all understand that entering lots in an auction does not constitute any
form of legally binding contract, there is in my view, a moral obligation to ensure that
all lots entered make it beyond the carpark on the morning of sale.
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