The first auctions date back to Roman times. In France, the first traces of Auctions appear in 1254 but the real development of auctions takes place from the eighteenth century. The word “auction” is derived from the Latin augeō which means “I increase” or “I augment”.

Auctions have a long history, having been recorded as early as 500 B.C. According to Herodotus, in Babylon auctions of women for marriage were held annually. The auctions began with the woman the auctioneer considered to be the most beautiful and progressed to the least. It was considered illegal to allow a daughter to be sold outside of the auction method.

During the Roman Empire, following military victory, Roman soldiers would often drive a spear into the ground around which the spoils of war were left, to be auctioned off. Later slaves, often captured as the “spoils of war”, were auctioned in the forum under the sign of the spear, with the proceeds of sale going towards the war effort.

The Romans also used auctions to liquidate the assets of debtors whose property had been confiscated. For example, Marcus Aurelius sold household furniture to pay off debts, the sales lasting for months. One of the most significant historical auctions occurred in the year 193 A.D. when the entire Roman Empire was put on the auction block by the Praetorian Guard. From the end of the Roman Empire to the eighteenth century auctions lost favor in Europe, while they had never been widespread in Asia.

In France, the event generally regarded as the founder of the Auctioneer’s profession takes place in 1556, when Henry II creates the offices of “masters auctioneers sellers of personal property” which grants them a monopoly of evaluations and sales. It was under Louis XVI in 1773, that the official name of “auctioneer” appears. The nineteenth century developed and continued the auction system and Paris became the main place of the world art market.

The Law of July 10th 2000, recognized the principle of separation of judiciary and volunteers auctions. For the first one, the auctioneers remains Officers, for the second, they ply their professional activity through a commercial company “limited to the estimation of movable properties, the organization and implementation of voluntary by public auction, called Sociétés de Ventes Volontaires “(art. 3).

That is to say, that the activity of public auctions is split into two: Judiciary and Voluntary Sales Auctioneers. Since the reform of July, 10th 2000, the Judiciary auctioneer has sole legal jurisdiction to organize and conduct judicial sales of public auction. On the other side, Voluntary sales by public auction are currently organized and conducted by commercial Sale Companies, called SVV (sociétés de ventes volontaires, such as ours).

France Expertises Enchères is a Voluntary Sale Company registered under n° 2002-384, following the Office of the XVIII Century Auctioneer at Versailles.