Archaeological Center auction #40 biggest yet

Adam Khan, Wednesday, March 21st, 2007

Because this Archaeological Center auction was so unusually large, the printed catalog could not be delivered to international bidders in time, so they relied on the website alone to view lots and make pre-auction bids on them.

Twice a year the Archaeological Center holds an antiquities auction at the Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv. The most recent, Auction #40: Ancient Coins, The Arnold Spaer Collection of Weights & Bullae, and Antiquities, was the biggest yet, with 876 items.

To date, posting each auction online has served to supplement its black & white printed catalog by providing color images of the items. It has also served the public interest by forming an online exhibition of sorts, capturing antiquities for publication as they surface briefy between private collections. This time however, due to the unusually large number of items, the printing of the catalog was delayed until after the date of the auction, meaning that bidders who could not travel to Tel Aviv to view the auction items at the Archaeological Center showroom relied on the website to view auction lots.

In addition, the new pre-auction bidding sheet system ran for the second time and many used it to submit pre-auction bids. The bidding sheet works like an online shopping cart. It uses the NebuCart package to merge seamlessly with ExpressionEngine, the site’s content management system.

The Archaeological Center website has been made with Engaging since 1997.