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Of greater general interest was Baldwin’s sale of Ancient and Modern coins that occupied October 9. There were 1403 lots looking for a new owner. This included the 322 lots devoted to the working library of the late Patrick Finn.

To prove the point, Christie’s have held their first ever ‘Transatlantic’ wine auction. Dubbed the International Burgundy Sale, this 973-lot auction of the region’s most prestigious wines was offered in two legs, the first 303 lots in an afternoon session at Zachy’s/Christie’s (10% buyer’s premium) in New York on October 30, the remaining 670 the following evening at Christie’s (10% buyer’s premium) King Street on November 1.

USA: Mixed signals emerged from New York’s crucial November round of Part I Impressionist and Modern sales, the most significant test of the international art market since September 11.

Dublin auctioneer John de Vere White is to sell 25 paintings on behalf of Aer Lingus, the national airline of the Republic of Ireland, on November 20.

THE new football season brought fears in the sports pages that the game’s financial bubble was about to burst and auctioneers may have had worries too.

Trade gap in art also mushrooms: Fine art exports from the UK to non-EU countries have increased by 50 per cent in the year ending December 2000. Equivalent imports for the same period also rose by a substantial amount – 26 per cent.

THIS WAS a very mixed sale at Bloomsbury Book Auctions on 11 October, containing plenty of job lots and much ex-library material, but little of outstanding interest or high value.