Nicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy As diamonds were becoming increasingly fashionable at the time, Henry arranged to borrow de Sancy's diamond to decorate his cap. Henry IV also borrowed the stone, for the more practical purpose of using it as security for financing an army. Legend has it that a messenger carrying the jewel never reached his destination, but de Sancy (by then Superintendent of Finance) was convinced that the man was loyal and had a search conducted until the site of the messenger's robbery and murder was found. When the body was disinterred, the jewel was found in the faithful man's stomach. De Sancy
Public auction Public auction A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority. When the term "Government Auction" is used it generally means that specific auctioneers and agents are contracted to deal with stock that needs to be liquidated by various government bodies. Government property sold at public auction may include surplus government equipment, abandoned property over which the government has asserted ownership, property which