I think first I would have been mostly concerned with maximizing the profit for my consigner rather than using the Find as free publicity to garner future consignments.
And I don't think I would have auctioned them off in the chronology of how Heritage handled it. Considering how Heritage handled announcing that it bids on its own lots I suspect they have plenty of lawyers who give them legal opinions on how to run their auctions. I don't think the determination on how to announce the Black Swamp Find was based solely on a legal determination.
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